Building Each Other Up

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Let me add a little Bible Study before the devotional today. Whenever you see the word "therefore" in the Bible, you should ask... what is the therefore there for. There is always a reason a verse starts with the word therefore. In this verse the therefore is there for a couple of reasons. The therefore is because we are not like those who don't know Christ. We are different. We are set apart. That is why we encourage each other. That is why we build each other up. The other reason the "therefore" is there for is because we have received salvation and we know who we are in Him, so we should encourage one another and build one another up.

Now that we understand the context, how exactly do we do that? Sounds like the Thessalonians were pretty good at it and Paul in effect is just encouraging them to keep up the good work. He is actually modelling how to build one another up as he is asking them to continue doing so. I think this is brilliant. He is saying, "keep up the good work, you are doing a good job." This is always so encouraging. Don't you love to hear you are doing a good job? Some of us are really good at encouraging and building up. Others of us have no concept whatsoever how or why we should do that. Most of us could do a much better job of it. I don't think I have ever heard anyone say they had received too much encouragement or that they had been built up too much. We live in tenuous times with many distractions, in a world that does not support our faith walk or belief in Christ very much. We need encouragement. At Grace Harbor Church we send out encouragement cards as a part of worship about every 4-6 weeks. Just little 3x5 cards that can be addressed on the front with space on the back to write a few encouraging words. I cannot possibly tell you in this space the wonderful results these cards bring.

Only problem is, there are more people who need encouraging than there are people to encourage them. Let me try to encourage all of you reading this today with a few closing words..... God loves you, He sincerely does. He is there for you. He cares. He is listening. He is for you. He wants to wrap you up in His arms and encourage you that it is going to be ok. Not only that, He wants to build you up. He wants to strengthen you, especially in those places where you feel weak. His desire is for you to have all that is possible for you. Seek Him today, and if you possibly can, encourage one another even more.

In His Service,
Pastor Fred

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