Read this today in Wayne and Clay Jacobsen’s Authentic Relationships. I’m glad I read it. God spoke.
“Build Each Other Up”
The final way we can lighten someone’s load is not related to a practical need or even a specific challenge. Often Paul exhorted the early believers to build each other up, or as he also termed it, to edify one another. This act of love isn’t designed to fix a specific problem but to nourish others in the life of Jesus. In fact, Paul saw edification as the prime objective when believers get together.
If we focus only on helping one another through the difficult moments, we soon will be consumed with problems and worn-out trying to address them all. Edifying one another is simply a way of putting our focus back on Jesus and the unfolding of life in us. It helps us grow closer to him and look beyond any current crisis to give attention to spiritual growth that will yield great rewards in days ahead.
A few years ago I met an Australian man whose ability to trust Jesus has impacted me deeply. Whenever I have been able to spend some time with him, which has been considerable in the years since, I always come away lighter in spirit, freer to trust Jesus myself. Just listening to him talk about Jesus or praying with him lifts me out of my own efforts to try harder and frees me to trust God more. I find myself less anxious for weeks afterward, less inclined to try to control everything around me, and far more confident in God’s ability to work in me. I find myself quite naturally looking forward to every contact with this man. No wonder Paul said building up one another is at the heart of our church life.
Nourishing one another’s spiritual life is simply serving spiritual food and drink to those who cross our paths. How can we do that? Whenever you get some time with another believer, look for ways to share what God is teaching you and doing in you. Share what you are learning about his nature that leaves you in awe of him. What have you been reading in Scripture that has spoken to your heart? How has he made his love known to you or known through you to someone else?
You often will find that as you share freely from your life, others will do the same. Hearing how others are learning to follow God and mining the wisdom they are uncovering from God’s Word not only will enrich your own journey but will enhance the depth of fellowship you experience with others. This kind of sharing is the bread and butter of body life. By serving them up to others, you will help those people in ways you may not always notice at first but in ways that will bear fruit in them for years to come.
(Authentic Relationships, pg. 85-86, Wayne Jacobsen and Clay Jacobsen)
Just dropping by.Btw, you website have great content!
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sai,
Glad that you found something edifying.
V