About Treasures of Encouragement
Is there someone you know who needs encouragement? Are you afraid to get involved, worried that you might do or say the wrong thing? Sharon Betters offers inspiring stories, key principles, and specific examples of how to build up each other—and the church as a whole—through a ministry of encouragement empowered by a secure identity in Christ.
Leader’s Guide Available
Promo video coming soon.
Sharon is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
A Note from Sharon
Treasures of Encouragement tells the story of how the Lord met me in the wilderness, of grief, often by sending His comfort and strength through His people. My goal twenty-five years ago was to help women not only better experience the same extreme comfort, but also to understand and practice the beauty, privilege, and power of biblical encouragement, especially as a means to invite others to trust the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness in the mundane moments and especially in the broken places of life.
The message of the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this book is the same. But today’s cultural landscape provides an opportunity―no, an urgent call―for people who belong to Jesus to offer treasures of encouragement designed to help turn hearts toward Jesus and away from self. You likely feel overwhelmed and helpless in the face of the vitriol, hatred, and life-taking words spewed out on social media and news platforms. Families dread gatherings because of the hostile atmosphere created by unfiltered conversations and disdain for one another’s opinions. Sadly, this venom seeps into our churches and once beloved friends avoid one another or even leave their local churches, perhaps never to return to church at all. What should be a place of safety and peace stirs up anger, sadness, and grief. We have forgotten the message of that little song, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
This book is designed to help equip and energize readers to pursue biblical encouragement as an outflow of their identity as Christians. The power of biblical encouragement can transform broken-hearted individuals, but it can also help bring together fractured families, friendships, churches, and communities. Friends, my heart’s desire is that studying biblical encouragement will help equip you to come alongside a hurting friend and remind us of the privilege we have to represent Jesus in the most mundane moments. But maybe it could also be a course correction for some in our fearful and hatred-driven culture. It is my prayer that the simple message of this biblically based book will transform our families, local churches, and communities into magnets for unbelievers and wounded believers alike as you invite them to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” They will observe the love that flows from us and declare, “Whatever they have, I want it, too.”