This is a good article by John Piper on Hebrews 6:17-18. Here’s a core excerpt:
This text assumes that God had already said enough to give us encouragement. But God is not a God of minimums. His aim is not to speak as few encouraging words as possible. He speaks some words to give us hope. Then, being the effusive God he is, he says to himself, “This is good. I like doing this. I think that I shall do this again.” And so he speaks some more words of encouragement.
But not just more. They are better. He moves from simple promises (which are infallible and infinitely trustworthy!) to oaths. And not just any oaths, but the best and highest kind—oaths based on himself. Why? Not because his word is weak. But because we are weak, and he is patient.
He desires to “show…prove…demonstrate…point out…represent…display…reveal… drive home” the hopefulness of our future. He really wants us to feel this. He goes the second (and third and fourth) mile to help us feel encouraged. This is what he wants. This is what he really wants. “When God desired to show more convincingly…”
This is really good news. God is “not a God of minimums.” He is an abundant God who seeks to do good to us in great ways, with one of those ways being abundantly encouraging us.
Our encouragement is, in fact, one of the primary purposes of the Old Testament and, by extension, the New Testament as well: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through the endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
Let’s tie this in to leadership. There is a small school of thought in leadership that thinks you should be sparse in encouraging others. The thinking is that if you encourage people too much, it is somehow a bad thing and will lead them to have an unrealistic picture of the situation.
Thankfully, God does not think this way. Encouragement is a good thing. God seeks to provide abundant encouragement to us through his promises. He wants us to be encouraged — to be greatly encouraged.
And we see the same in Paul’s example as well. Note, for example, the emphasis in Acts 20:1-2: “After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.”
So, know that God does want you to be encouraged. And, be encouraged by that! And, in your relationships with others, seek to imitate God’s example and Paul’s example by being abundantly encouraging to those around you.