Week 2 - Monday

Encouraging One Another

.... making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine. (Romans 1:10b-12)

Most people are not eager to go out of their way to serve God, however Paul was. Just as in almost everywhere he went, Paul must have known that he would encounter great opposition to the gospel in Rome also (Acts 21:10-14). Add to that the fact that travel was difficult and dangerous in those days. Still, Paul was very eager to go to Rome. So much so that he had been praying regularly, making request to God, for the opportunity to go there and minister. Most people make their plans and go places without ever praying about it. Paul could have done that too. He could have just decided to go to Rome and not bothered to pray to God about it. But the reason he didn't do that was because he was seeking the will of God. Even though Paul deeply desired to go to Rome, he only wanted to go there if that was what God wanted to do.

Paul's main concern for the Christians in Rome was for their spiritual needs. He wanted to go there in order to help them grow spiritually and to become more established in their faith. Our concerns for others are usually focused on their physical needs. We frequently pray for a person's disease to get better, or for someone to find the job they are looking for. There is nothing wrong with praying for those kinds of things, in fact it is good. The Bible says that we should let our requests be made known to God (Phil. 4:6). However, we should also be praying for their spiritual growth and not just for their physical needs. A persons spiritual needs are even more important than their physical ones. Our bodies are only temporary, but our spirits will live forever.

Paul wanted to go to Rome, even though he knew he would experience great hardship. He wanted to go and see the believers there in person, to encourage them and strengthen their faith. At the same time, Paul knew he too would be encouraged and strengthened by them. Paul was specially gifted and called by God to minister to others, but he was also aware that others could minister to him as well. Every believer, from the most mature to the least, has some spiritual gift to offer to others. Therefore no matter how spiritually gifted a person might be, they are not above being ministered to by another believer. God has blessed each of us with spiritual gifts so that we may be encouraged by one another, each of us by the other's faith.

Our concern for other Christians should go further than just praying for them. We need to be visiting them in person too. Most people don't like to take the time to do that though. It's easier to just call someone on the phone. Often we don't want to visit someone in person because we think that they might not want to be bothered. That's usually just an excuse on our part though. It's more likely that we are the one who doesn't want to be bothered. More often than not we are simply being selfish with our time. It's doesn't take long to figure out if someone appreciates your visit or not. Some people may not want to be bothered but there are many more who want and need the encouragement we could give them. And whether we realize it or not, all of us need the encouragement that visiting others can give us too.

Readings for today: James 4:13-15; 1 Cor. 12:4-7; Rom. 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 7:13