The verb exhort (parakaléō) means to appeal, urge, beseech, admonish, or call to action. Thus, it is the means of urging or exhorting the hearers of God’s Word to be doers of God’s will. J. Dwight Pentecost states that, “The exhorter is one who has the ability to appeal to the will of the individual to get him to act.”
The gift of exhortation is typically joined to the gift of teaching.
- Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation (parakalēsis) and teaching (didaskalía). - 1 Timothy 4:13
In 1 Timothy 6:2, Paul exhorted Timothy, as the pastor of the Ephesian church, to “teach and preach these principles.” The term translated as teach (didaskō) is the same term used in the gift of teaching. The term translated as preach (parakaléō), in 1 Timothy 6:2, is the same term translated as exhortation. As a pastor, Timothy was to both teach and preach or exhort the Scripture. The gift of exhortation is often, but not always, given to those who serve in a pastoral ministry. It should be further understood that while not all teachers are pastors, all pastors should be teachers.