The Bible seems to indicate that the closer we get to the end of the world, the more difficult it’s going to be for the Christian. As we enter these difficult times it is imperative that Christian people learn to encourage and support one another. But how can we effectively encourage each other in the Christian life? The Thessalonians were facing some pretty intense opposition from the enemies of Christ in the first century, and they were very much in the minority. But in this passage, we see several characteristics that made Paul an effective encourager to those early Christians—the very same characteristics that will help us to boost one another up.