Rejoicing in Each Other

Psalm 119:73-80

Verse 74  May those who fear You rejoice when they me, for I have put my hope in Your word.

    One of the things that is vital to remember is that this idea of abiding isn’t just about us as individuals.  Yes, many things need to be learned as individuals, but if it only benefits the individual, something is missing.

    The psalmist mentions in today’s reading that he hopes that other God followers will rejoice when they see his relationship with God’s Word.  This should remind us that while it is vitally important that we are growing in our walk with God, it is important that we don’t become too self-focused that we aren’t even noticing how our fellow Christians are doing on their faith walk.

    The Christian walk is not an individual activity.  We are to be in this together with other believers.  As we grow in our love of the Word we should be encouraging others to be growing in it too.  When we learn something new from our personal study or from a sermon we should be excited enough to share it with others so if they didn’t know it previously, they will be learning something too.

    The body of believers is important to each other and to the community.  As we encourage each other in our learning and see each other growing, the community can’t help but notice a difference in us.  And when they notice the difference in us they will want to know what the reason for that difference is.  That is only going to happen though if we are actually changing to be more like Christ.

    Growing in Christ’s likeness is something each of us in the Church should aiming for.  We should be doing all we can to be seeking Him and His ways.  As a Church family, we should also want to help each other grow and watch for the things that will trip us up as body of believers.  Yes, there are things that can happen in a church that cause hindrances.  Things like gossip and animosity can cause fractions and those fractions actually hurt the growth of the body as a whole.

    Knowing that there are spiritual “germs” that can grow in the church, we need to be aware of them so that we can try to keep them from infecting our lives and the lives of the Church.  And we can know what these issues are by getting to know God’s character through reading His Word.

Making It Personal

    Have you ever had someone rejoice with you in your spiritual growth?  Have you ever rejoiced with someone else over their growth?  What is a “spiritual germ” that you find yourself most susceptible to?

Making It Personal Kids

    Does it feel good to have someone cheer you on?  Do you like to cheer other people on?  Who can you cheer on today about how they live for Jesus?

Closing Prayer

    Father, we thank You for giving us a community to grow in.  Help us build each other up in our faith journeys so that we can grow to be more like You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.