Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV)
Are you a taker or a giver? A consumer or a builder? Altogether too many believers choose a church based on what they get out of it. And while it is important that I be fed and encouraged as a part of a local body, there should be more to it than that.
Are other believers stronger and more secure in their faith because of you? Are you making a positive difference in the lives of others? This charge to encourage and build-up is not given just to pastors and teachers; it is given to all believers. Encourage one another and be a builder. Don’t be satisfied with being just a consumer. Invest in the lives of your fellow believers. After all, the health of the church is dependent on the working of each of its members, including you (Eph. 4:16).
A great verse on its own. But I love these verses that begin with “therefore”, as it forces me to look at what came before.
v9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
v10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
Our salvation come through Jesus Christ and we live together with Him. For me, in both verses Christ is the centerpiece.
So, just as we have this eternal relationship with Christ, it is through Him (our risen Savior) that we have a common relationship with each other as believers. And because of that I whole heartedly agree that we should seek ways to be givers in the here and now. I think it was Henry Blackaby the taught ‘find out where God is at work and join Him there’. Working for/with the Lord is giving.
That quote is one of the few things I remember from the Experiencing God study some 25 years ago. And I still use it periodically.