Why We Exist

Daily Encourager is a national community platform being built one individual at a time, while also being introduced into thousands of communities across America. Our desire is to provide a variety of daily encouragements intended solely for individuals — real people, living real lives, in real neighborhoods across this country.

But before I talk about what we do, we need to talk about why we do it. And the why starts with something most of us already know but rarely slow down long enough to think about.

God is love. Not in a greeting-card kind of way — in the deepest, most foundational way possible. The Bible says it plainly: "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (1 John 4:16, NIV). That's not just something God does. It's who He is. Every sunrise you've ever seen, every kindness you've ever received, every time someone showed up for you when you didn't deserve it — all of it traces back to a God whose very nature is love.

And here's the part that changes everything: He loved us first. Before we did a single thing to earn it, before we even thought about loving Him back, He was already loving us. "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19, NIV). That's His starting line — not ours. He doesn't base His love on our efforts or even our goodness. His love is freely given, with no strings attached.

Now, when Jesus was asked what matters most in all of life, He gave a two-part answer that has never been improved upon. First — love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Second — love your neighbor as yourself. And then He said something remarkable: "everything else hangs on these two commands" (Matthew 22:37–40, NIV). And let's be clear about something — these aren't just suggestions. They aren't gentle recommendations to consider when it's convenient. They are commands. Mandates from God Himself. Love Him. Love your neighbor. There is no fine print, no opt-out clause, and no waiting period. He didn't ask us to think about it. He told us to do it.

Think of it this way: loving God is like breathing in — receiving His love, being filled by it, being changed by it. Loving your neighbor is breathing out — letting that same love flow through you towards the people around you. You can't just breathe in forever. And you certainly can't breathe out what you never took in. We need both. The love we give to others was never meant to come from our own supply. It flows from God, through us, and into the lives of the people He has placed around us.

Without His love moving through us, we're dead in the water. We can muster up kindness for a while, sure. We can be polite. We can even be generous when it's convenient. But the kind of love that truly changes a community — the kind that loves the difficult neighbor, forgives the one who wronged you, and shows up for the stranger who has nothing to offer in return — that kind of love requires a source bigger than ourselves.

And I mean all of us — including myself! None of us have come anywhere close to mastering these two commands. It doesn't matter what church you attend, what you believe, or where you are on your journey. "We are all in this same boat together." Every single one of us falls short. Nobody has this figured out. And honestly? That's okay. Because that's exactly why we need God, and it's exactly why He gives us each other.

Here's something worth thinking about: many of us spend a few hours each week attending church. And those few hours really matter — don't hear this wrong. But if we're being real with ourselves: there are roughly 112± additional waking hours in a week. What are we doing with those hours?

The Bible paints a picture of love that moves in expanding circles. It starts at the center — loving God. Then it moves to the people closest to us — loving one another within our community of faith. Then it expands outward — loving our neighbors, the people right around us. And then it pushes to the hardest circle of all — loving even our enemies, and those who are difficult to love. Welcome to our long and beautiful journey of love that God invites each of us into, one day at a time.

And here is what makes this journey worth taking: we're not asked to do it perfectly. We're asked to do it daily. None of us woke up this morning and suddenly loved everyone flawlessly. But we can start today by encouraging one person. We can learn one neighbor's name. We can show up for someone who didn't expect it. And then we do it again tomorrow.

That's what Daily Encourager exists to do. We want to be the daily reminder that love isn't just a Sunday word — it's a Monday through Saturday word, too. We want to help you connect with the people in your own community — your actual neighbors, your local businesses, the widow down the street, the single mom at the school, the veteran who eats alone.

Encouraged individuals will start to look for daily opportunities to connect with their neighbors and their local community members. Our challenge for you will be to look for opportunities to serve others locally — especially the widows in their afflictions, and the fatherless within your own community.

Here's the best part: with God's love working through us, we're capable of being better and doing better — but it requires a daily effort from each of us, and a daily dependence on Him.