“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”–Romans 5.10
[8] But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. [9] For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, [10] who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. [11] Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:8-11)This Wednesday night we will have the opportunity to encourage one another in a large group sharing time. What’s the point of a night like this? Is it simply to waste time or mix things up? No. Paul talks about the point of nights like this in 1 Thessalonians 5. He says in verse 11 that we are to encourage one another and build one another up. All of us are going through sanctification–the slow process of becoming more and more like Jesus. As we get built up into Christlikeness, we grow in several ways. A big one is in personal communion with God–as we read and meditate on the Word and pray the Word in fellowship with God. This should be a necessary part of all of our days.
But, its not enough. Personal communion is necessary, but not sufficient. We need other people to help us grow too. This is where encouragement comes in. All of us can help each other become more like Jesus through encouragement. Encouragement can be as simple as a complement to someone, but it can be much deeper than this too. The type of encouragement that Paul is talking about here is reminding our fellow believers of the truth of God’s Word. And, just like personal communion, believer-on-believer encouragement is necessary for growth.
All of us are bombarded with lies throughout our day. Some are overt: impulses to do wrong that we know are evil the moment we sense them; but many are subtle, shaped by the sinful environment we live in and fueled by our sinful nature desires. Paul says that because we are in Christ, we need to guard our hearts (breastplate of faith and love) and guard our minds (helmet of hope of salvation) from the lies that lead us to sin. All of us, even very godly youth leaders, fall into the deception of sin. This is where encouragement comes in. Each of us can remind one another of the truth of God’s Word. That’s what Paul does here: reminding the Christians that we will one day live with Jesus–so don’t get bogged down in the sin of this life.
So, as we look forward to Wednesday, let’s live lives of constant encouragement–reminding each other of the truth of God’s Word. It is necessary for all of us as we develop in Christlikeness.