S152P3 – Our saintly duty: lifting one another
1 Ths. 5:8-11
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. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
If you survey any close-knit group of friends, chances are that these people will not be all the same. Sure, they will share some things in common, which is how they became friends. Yet, each will have distinct differences from the rest. I tend to be the realist in whatever group I am in. I see things how they are factually in the moment. If I am having a bad day, I say that I am having a bad day. I do not try to speak myself into a having good day by saying that I am blessed and highly favored. I just call the circumstance what it is. Unfortunately, I can be seen as a pessimist. What I need, and what I always find, is the optimist to show me what else there is.
This world is an imperfect place. We will suffer for the cause of Christ, but we also will suffer just because that is the way of this fallen world. This chapter speaks of our coming salvation and deliverance from this world. That message is an encouragement we all need when we face the trials of life. Someone like myself might be quick to point out our present day miseries because they are real. While that miserable state might be true, there is no value in the observation without the forward-looking encouragement of our faith. The hope we have in Jesus Christ and in his salvation is what gets us through these times. The encourager will recognize the current circumstance but then remind you of the greater thing ahead.
Speaking the truth is not wrong here, but we must remember that we live outside our present circumstances. I think we do our faith and our Lord a disservice when we look only at the earthly without considering the heavenly. Our physical state is not necessarily our spiritual state, and we know which one is lasting. Encouraging one another begins with being able to encourage ourselves. I cannot be your cheerleader if I cannot first be my own. To encourage is to rest in the truth as God has told us regardless of whatever else we must endure in the meantime. Father, give us opportunities to exercise our faith and encourage one another to keep looking forward to what You have waiting for us beyond this place.