Give, receive encouragement
Posted on Thursday, September 4, 2008
What a nice cool day that makes me think of fall, I'm ready to see the weather turn cool and see the beautiful colors that come with fall. I'm thinking there will be more hot weather though.
Have you checked on the elderly during the hot summer days ? The elderly could always use a visit or a call.
I want to share with you on "Personal Christian Conduct"1 Thessalonians 5: 12-23, As Paul ends this first letter to the young church at Thessalonica, he gives them some final instructions on Christian conduct... Personal Christian Conduct. This section of the letter seems to have to do, not so much with moral ethics in society, as it does as with church ethics. How to behave within the church, within the Christian family, the household of God.
Paul appears to be telling us how to get along and how to treat one another. You see, there is no such a thing as a Lone Ranger Christian. We are family. We are the household of God. We are a fellowship.
We live as a group of believers saved by God's grace as a result of our response to that grace. As a family we have a responsibility to the head of the house and to one another as brethren.
Paul said appreciate one another. The King James says what ? Get to know one another. Those who labor among you, and those who are over you, and those who admonish you. First, get to know everybody who labor in the church, in the work of the Lord. All those who involve themselves in the Father's business; those who have the oversight. I don't know anyone else this could be but the Elders, the leaders. Those who admonish you -- He's speaking of teachers.
Here is the bottom line, folk, it takes a real effort to live together as a family. Some people are idealistic. They think they will search until they find the perfect church and then they will place their membership there, and all will be rosy till Jesus comes. Wrong ! Wrong ! Wrong ! It doesn't work that way. Never has and never will. The truth is some of you are hard to get along with. It takes a real effort to live with some of you.
Folk, are we making the effort to get to know one another, understand one another ? If we don't, we'll keep we running up and down the road to this congregation and that one. I must tell you the perfect church does not exist except in heaven. And to join that group, you have become faultless, perfect. And that presupposes having to leave this world in death. Are you still interested in joining the perfect church ? Death is the only way. Secondly, we must learn to live at peace with one another. Look at verse 13 of our text. I believe Paul tells us how to do just that... Do you see it ? Hold one another in highest regard. The King James says, esteem one another. When was the last time you told one or more of the leaders that you appreciate them ? That you loved them ? Or anyone else in the church for that matter ?
Some of us need to learn how to say these three words -- I love you. I can hear some of you thinking that's wimpy, that sounds sissy. God is not wimpy, God is love, and He tells us so repeatedly. The Greek word literally means those out of line. In classical Greek this word was used to describe a soldier who would not keep step in rank. Know anybody in the church like that ? Paul is not talking about: the immoral, the out of duty rebellious, and the back slider. Those who have chosen to return to the world.
He is speaking of how to get along within the church family.
He is speaking of: the grumbler, the dissatisfied, the fault finder. Those who always are stirring the pot of dissension; the unruly within the family circle. Those who act this way in the church are to be disciplined. Encourage the weak, comfort the feeble minded. Babies in Christ, those who are likely to give up too easily. Those who are not likely to survive, those easily discouraged.
Those souls who could easily be lost by some thoughtless words, some inappropriate action.
Let's work on our personal conduct, be encouragers.
Walk in love.
------Sue Shipp, sueshipp _ outreachministries @ yahoo. com
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