“Encourage me, and I will never forget you.”, a message delivered by Joel Osteen, a prosperity preacher.
Joel Osteen preaches the Word of Faith teaching. He used one line of scripture in his message, “Encourage me, and I will never forget you.”
The scripture used is;
“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT
Word of Faith teaching tells us as believers, God wants us to be prosperous. We are to have stable finances, good health, marriages, and relationships. God is the source of good things for all of us and that anything that causes us struggle comes from Satan.
So what is wrong with following prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen? Nothing if you are looking for a motivational speaker to instill enthusiasm in your daily life.
But, in my personal opinion, I would say it is risky to believe that God is going to give us everything we want in our life.
Why wouldn't God do the same for people who attend a Bible-based church? Is it because we don't will the energy into us during the sermon? I don't think so.
Receiving a message like “Encourage me, and I will never forget you” is a great motivational message. Unfortunately, that doesn't provide the roadmap to developing your relationship with God. You focus on developing relationships with humans instead.
Yes, Christ wants us to work on our relationships with one another, but we are to put God first, before all others. He is the one we trust no matter what, and he is the only one that will not fail us.
“Encourage me, and I will never forget you” – but what about our sins?
We are all sinners. Weaknesses are present in every person. Osteen's sermons tell us that we can overcome anything, but many of us need to learn to accept ourselves and understand that we are powerless so that we might start the process of overcoming our struggles.
Yes, we do need to help each other, but sometimes we have to listen without solving the problems owned by another. They need to work through them to overcome their struggles.
“So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Joel Osteen's messages like “Encourage me, and I will never forget you” are words that helped me along with my journey, at a time when I wasn't paying attention to the church.
Do I watch and listen to Joel Osteen today? Very rarely, and more for a better understanding of where he is with his message.
My attention is on reading the Bible daily, and in the message I get at my Bible-based church. And, I am glad that Joel Osteen provided the connection with Christ at a time when I would have never reached out to the church.