The reason why we need to exhort one another is because hurt feelings cause us to lose perspective, as Satan constantly seeks to draw us away from God, and because of our inherently sinful and stubborn natures.

• As we exhort one another we must remember that every person is worth understanding.
• Many Christians are problem-orientated rather than people-orientated, in other words, they see the problems when they ought to be seeing people.
• Behind every human problem there is a person.
• The church often responds to surface problems in people’s lives … we need to remember that sin is subtle and we need to look below the surface to discover the real problem.
• There may be bitterness and resentment, guilt and shame, fear and anxiety.
• Often guilt is God’s way of reminding people that they have violated His principles.
• When we constantly focus on the problem we will find defensiveness, argumentation and blame shifting. But when we focus and rely on God’s grace, we can trust Him to work in a person’s life and ultimately, we will again see the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy and peace becoming evident in their lives. (Hebrews 12:15,16.)

You earn the right to exhort a fellow Christian when you are willing to walk with the person and identify with their feelings, pain and hurts

We have a wonderful example of exhortation in Luke 24 : 13 – 20:

The Lord Jesus on the road to Emmaus - as He walks with the two believers.

• Jesus firstly walked with them at their pace...
• Then He asked them questions which were “door openers”...
• Jesus takes note of their circumstances, their feelings and their thoughts...
• At the right time He expounds the Scriptures.

When we realise how much God has forgiven us, surely that must be a motivation for us to forgive others and give up our resentments.

We cannot take another person further than we have gone ourselves in the whole area of forgiveness.

When we follow Biblical principles it leads to Biblical solutions.

Sanctification is a continuing process in each one of our lives.

Enlightenment on the other hand, is coming alongside a Christian to assist them to bring their thinking in line with God’s thinking. Ephesians 1:18-20