There were some great lines in the movie Bruce Almighty and a great piece about
prayer. It went something along the lines of, “When you pray for patience, does
God give you patience or an opportunity to be patient?” This wasn’t the exact
quote but this was the point of it. Prayer can just be words but sometimes it
requires action. Paul spends the last chunk of scripture in 1 Thessalonians
talking about how the church should be living with each other.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15…
“And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are
idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with
everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to
do what is good for each other and for everyone else.”
While this does focus for the church itself, it is practical
for anyone in or outside the church. Now inside the church, I have been apart
of some churches that do a great job with this and I have been apart of some
church that have not. I love going to Maryland Community Church and feel like
this is one of the best churches I have been apart of when it comes to living
in community with one another. It’s something all Christians are called to do
and not just as leaders. As attenders of a church ask yourself…
·
Are you warning those not accomplishing what
they are supposed to do?
·
Who have you encouraged lately? When?
·
Who have you helped? When?
·
How and when have you shown patience in the
church or with church attenders?
·
How have you kept peace in the church?
I mentioned “when” because we might have done this once, but
it could have happened a while ago. If we are living in the church this needs
to be a frequent occasion. Paul really hits the church hard with this because
as believers in Jesus, we are called to live for him in our life. If you are
outside the church, this is what the church is supposed to be about. If you
have had a bad experience with a church, I am sorry, please give church a try
again. Churches are full of sinners and are far from perfect. I hope you can
find a church that is a good fit for you.
We are called to care for one another, how can you do that
today?
Have a great day.
