copyright Favoring Brave LLC 2023
Some people's words do more than cheer you up — they are given a charism (spiritual gift) of encouragement that brings God's own nurturing love to the people who need it.
Every charism makes some aspect of God present in the world. Encouragement makes His desire to build up and bring courage to His children incarnate — you can watch it happen. In Scripture this gift is sometimes called exhortation (Romans 12:8), but both words describe the same charism.
The most famous encourager in the Bible got renamed for it: Joseph of Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, was called that because it means "son of encouragement" (Acts 4:36). When the Jerusalem church was afraid of the newly converted Paul, it was Barnabas who vouched for him. Entire chapters of the Church's story happened because one man was good at building others up.
In work and ministry, this charism often shows up in counselors, mentors, spiritual directors, teachers, speakers, writers, and anyone who works with children. But it needs no title at all — a lot of encouragers simply become a steady source of strength and uplift for everyone they know.
Here's what we have found that separates the charism from a naturally upbeat personality: stickiness. The supernatural fruit of this gift is people being encouraged beyond what you'd naturally expect. Your words stay with people. They return to something you said days, weeks, even years later — and can recall a single conversation with you long after it happened, because it changed how they saw themselves or God.
St. Paul lists this gift plainly: "if one exhorts, in exhortation" (Romans 12:8). Barnabas is its living case study — Acts 4:36, 11:23–24 ("he rejoiced and encouraged them all"), 14:22. Jesus gives Peter an encourager's commission at the Last Supper: "once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers" (Luke 22:32). Other key passages include 1 Thessalonians 2:11–12 and 5:11 ("encourage one another and build one another up"), Hebrews 10:24, and 2 Peter 3:15–16.
If you're exploring this charism, read one passage a day and notice which ones feel like a description of you.
If you answered yes to any of these, it's quite likely encouragement is one of your charisms. Discernment still takes prayer, feedback, and testing — but this one tends to be visible to everyone around you already.
Having the charism of encouragement does not mean you can encourage anyone, anywhere, at any time. Some people are in seasons — deep grief, mental health struggles, old wounds — where receiving encouragement is genuinely hard for them. Their struggle to receive does not invalidate your charism.
Your part is obedience, not results: stay responsive to the Holy Spirit and offer encouragement where He moves you, even when it feels like encouraging a brick wall. You don't know another person's internal reality — but the Spirit does, and He may be planting something that surfaces years from now. (Remember the stickiness.)
The charism assessment gives you an objective, outside read on where the Holy Spirit is most likely at work in you — winnowing the list of 24 possible charisms down to your most likely few in about 20 minutes.
It's the charism that empowers a person to bring God's love and nurturing nature to others through presence, listening, and words of comfort and counsel. It is one of the 24 charisms of the Holy Spirit recognized in the Catholic tradition.
Yes. "Exhortation" is the older translation of the gift St. Paul lists in Romans 12:8; "encouragement" is the same charism in modern language.
The tell is supernatural stickiness: people encouraged beyond what a kind word would naturally do, returning to your words weeks or years later. A sunny disposition brightens a room; the charism builds people's faith and courage in ways that stay.
Start with the charism assessment for an objective read on your most likely charisms, then confirm through prayer, feedback from people who know you well, and testing. The Catechism says this discernment is always necessary (CCC 801).
Ep. 25 — The Charism of Encouragement. How people with this charism reflect the true nature of our Heavenly Father — and how encouragement intertwines with the other gifts.
Listen on Apple Podcasts · Find the show wherever you listen
The Essential Handbook on Living Your Charisms has a full chapter on encouragement — including beginner-to-advanced ways to test the gift, a daily charism prayer, and what to do when your encouragement doesn't seem to be received.