please provoke me

i came across a verse in my Bible reading the other day.
it wasn't like i haven't read the verse before. i had.
but it just kind of hit me differently this particular day.

"and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works"

normally, when i think of the word provoke, i think of one of my boys in the back seat of the car.
come on. you know you've been in a similar situation.
one of them is provoking the other.
and it ain't to love and good works!
it's to irritation and dirty looks! haha!

so maybe that's why it stood out to me. i don't normally think of provoke in a positive way.
but it does not only have to be negative!
i liked a couple other versions that put it like this..
let us think of ways to motivate each other...let us continue to consider how to motivate...let us consider how we may spur one another on.

if you read the verse in context, you see that the following sentence talks about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, but encouraging each other!

what i took from it was this. the next time i am in a conversation with someone.
i should be thinking in my head...how can i provoke her?
how can i get from what we are talking about here, to motivate her to be a better person there?
can you even imagine what our conversations would start becoming if we took that seriously??

how many conversations have you had lately where people are just "venting" just "getting something off their chest" and you find yourself saying...
WHAT? she did WHAT to you? you did NOT deserve that! (or something similar)

when we have that response, we are not motivating our friends to be positive. we aren't spurring them on to become more encouraging! we are actually doing the opposite! we are dragging them into a pit.

i have recently had some conversations with people who have been awesome provokers.
and i am so thankful!
i want you to provoke me!
my bad attitude that i carry around with me? ya. it actually doesn't even feel good! i don't want to be negative. i don't want to become bitter.
and i need you to provoke me!
i need to provoke you.
we need to provoke each other.

come on!
be positive.
be thankful for what you have.
be content.
be joyful.
obey God's commands.
it's the cool thing to do...
everybody's doing it! :)

let's start provoking!