BIBLE PASSAGE:
Let us therefore make every effort to do
what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
(Romans 14:19)
MEDITATION:
Satan wants us to have thoughts like:
“I am only one person, so how could God use me?”
“I am not qualified or capable of doing anything for God”
“I would only be getting in the way of God’s mission through others.”
But God, through Paul, wants us to know that every member of His
family can contribute to what He is doing. He says we can,
“make every effort to do what leads to peace”.
Paul uses the word “edification”, which is defined as,
“to instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge”
According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament
Words, “edify” means to,
“promote spiritual growth and development of the
character of believers, by teaching, or by example”
When Paul says, “mutual”, he is reminding us of the importance of
encouraging each other. Satan wants us to believe that as one person,
we are helpless and lack the capability to encourage others. But God’s
Word assures us that when He is in control, every believer can be an
effective encourager.
When each believer has a desire to build up others, the church body
will continue to grow spiritually stronger. A ‘group dynamic’ desire
for spiritual renewal and growth is enhanced when all believers are
participating in encouraging each other. We need each other!
Look at Paul’s advice in Romans 15:
Each of us should please our neighbors
for their good, to build them up.
(Romans 15:2)
He tells us that our efforts are “for their good”. When we care about
others, we will want to do things that are ‘for their good’, right? Even
if “our neighbors” seldom (or never) encourage us, we still need to be
encouragers. When we can do that, it indicates we are becoming less
selfish and more selfless. When Jesus walked the earth in human form,
He taught us what selflessness looks like.
Who are “our neighbors”? A lawyer asked Jesus that question and Jesus
answered him with a parable. He explained how some ‘religious’ folks
ignored a person who was in need. But one (a Samaritan) who didn’t
know the person, “took pity on him” and helped him (Luke 10: 25-37).
Two ‘religious’ people (a priest and a Levite) were more concerned with
their own lives, than they were about attending to the needs of this man.
They even crossed to the other side of the road to avoid the injured man.
In essence, Jesus told the lawyer that his (and our) neighbor is anyone we
meet. Look at the last part of the parable from Jesus:
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor
to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had
mercy on him. Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
(Luke 10:36-37)
When God blesses us with His salvation, He begins a sanctification
process that replaces unrighteousness with righteousness. It is a
process of renewing our mind. Why? Because we are born with
a mind bent toward ‘selfishness’. How many times have we heard
a toddler yell, “Mine!”?
God knows we need to have a new mind that is more like the mind
of the One we are following, Jesus. That means our attitudes need
to be adjusted, and God wants us to surrender our heart, mind and
soul to the control of the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit is in control, we will discover a new sensitivity
to the needs of others, and we will have an increasing desire to look
for opportunities to encourage and build up others. That’s what
Jesus did and as His followers, that’s what we should try to do.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give
you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ
Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Romans 15:5-6)
Sometimes God’s Spirit will urge us to do some things that we don’t
fully understand. Satan wants us to use our lack of understanding as
away of convincing us to ‘skip’ these things. But we need to remember
they are our opportunities to exercise our faith and prove our trust in
the Lord.
Faith doesn’t mean we won’t have doubts, but when we do, we move
forward and obey God anyway. When God tells us we are to love those
who have hurt or wronged us in some way, faith gives us the ability to
say,
“Lord, I don’t understand this, and it doesn’t make sense
to me, but since You’ve told me to do it, I’ll give it a try”
When we follow God’s instructions (given to us through Paul), our words,
thoughts, and actions will be intended to “glorify the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ”. That’s great motivation for us, isn’t it? Renewing
of our mind is important because it means we will become more focused
on glorifying God, and less on ourselves.
God blesses us in many ways, and He deserve the praise.
Look at how Herod was affected when He did not give praise to God.
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat
on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.
They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.”
Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God,
an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten
by worms and died.
(Acts 12:21-23)
Paul tells us that God is the One who can give us an attitude of peace,
but if we are to be more peaceful, we need to place our trust in Him.
It means that sometimes when we want to ‘fight back’, we instead
choose humility and absorb the pain we might be experiencing. And
when we do, we can receive some valuable blessings:
1. We can be filled with joy.
2. We can be filled with peace.
3. We can be overflowing with hope.
Look at the encouragement Paul gives us in Romans 15:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace
as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with
hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Romans 15:13)
“Overflow” implies that our new attitudes will spill over to
those around us, which can encourage believers and can be
a contributor of pointing others toward Jesus.
One last thing to consider as we are transformed by God. Paul tells
us to stay away from those who distort God’s Word for their own
purposes. He urges us to avoid contact with folks who can confuse,
and even deceive any who are not grounded in God’s Word.
I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those
who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that
are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away
from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ,
but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they
deceive the minds of naive people.
(Romans 16:17-18)
That’s great advice from one of God’s proven servants, isn’t it!
Some folks can be easily misled by a strong sounding voice, or
the ‘smooth talking’ of someone, even though their efforts are
far from honorable. When another person speaks with boldness
and authority, he or she can cause others to believe what they are
saying, but their words might be filled with lies and selfish intentions.
There are some in leadership positions who can sway their listeners
when they say things that sound pleasant to the ears, but they are
not speaking the truths given to us in the Bible (they might even be
saying things that contradict God’s Words).
For the time will come when people will not put up with
sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they
will gather around them a great number of teachers to
say what their itching ears want to hear.
(2 Timothy 4:3)
As an example, some have the idea that God has a selected group of
elite folks who are the only ones who can receive His salvation. But
when we compare this thought to God’s Word, we discover that God
says “whosoever” (which means any, and all people) calls on His Name
will be saved. God has said He does not show favoritism, so the idea
that He has chosen an elite group contradicts who He is and what
the scriptures say about favoritism.
Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor
or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.
(Leviticus 19:15)
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that
God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation
the one who fears him and does what is right.”
(Acts 10:34-35)
For God does not show favoritism.
(Romans 2:11)
As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were
makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they
added nothing to my message.
(Galatians 2:6)
I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels,
to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of
favoritism.
(1 Timothy 5:21)
My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ
must not show favoritism.
(James 2:1)
But if you show favoritism, you sin and
are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
(James 2:9)
The flaw of this type of thinking is:
If God were to have only a selected elite group that can
be saved, how can the speaker determine that he or she
is part of that group?
Can man think like God? Of course not! God is the One who determines
which people will be saved, and as we have seen in scriptures, He has
made salvation available to everyone.
There was a member of Mensa who said there is no such thing as absolute
truth. If what he said was true, then he disqualified the very thing said. If
absolute truth doesn’t exist, then we can’t believe what anyone says, which
includes what he said about the absence of absolute truth. However, we
know that absolute truth does exist, and it’s called, the Bible (God’s Word).
ACTION:
Have you thought about your focus? Do you seek peace and building up
those around you, or is it more on pleasing yourself? Jesus told the lawyer
that everyone is our neighbor, so if we want to encourage others, we should
be ‘connected’ with them so we can understand their needs. We might not
always get it right, but God reads our hearts, and He knows our intentions.
If we want to have a type of righteousness like Jesus (the One we are following),
then we need a renewed mind that leans toward ‘selflessness’ as a replacement
for ‘selfishness’.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me where I should
be focused. Renew my mind so that my thoughts, words, and
actions will be more like those of Jesus. I want to have an
increasing desire for peace and encouraging those around me.
I know that when I trust You, and allow the Holy Spirit to reign
in my life, I will be filled with joy and peace. Help me to discern
what I hear and to know when someone is distorting Your Word.
Thank You for Your promises to all who love and trust You, and
for Your promise that salvation is available for all people.”
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