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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
August 9
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Today's Pathway:
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We finished yesterday with Paul writing in verse 25 that God had put the members of the local church into the body in the way that He did with the desire that there would be no divisions there. He concludes that verse by saying that the members need to care about each other. The verb form used here is continuous action. We are not to care for others only in a time of severe crisis, but at all times. The word "care" carries the idea of being concerned. It is interesting that twelve of the seventeen times that the Greek word is used in the New Testament it is telling believers not to have concern. However, those all refer to being concerned about ourselves. We don't need to "take thought" about what is going to happen to us. God will provide for that. However, we do need to "take thought" about what is going on in the lives of others, for God may want to use us to provide for them.
In verse 26 Paul spells out what it means to care for others. He first talks about suffering with those in the church who are suffering. The word translated "suffer" has been defined this way:
"It means essentially what happens in a person's experience. It means to undergo something; to experience a sensation, to experience an impression from an outside source, to undergo an experience (usually difficult) and normally with the implication of physical or psychological suffering".
So, while "suffering" normally means going through a difficult situation, it can mean simply going through a unique or unexpected situation. The idea of the verse is this:
whenever one of the church members is going through a unique or difficult period of his life, all the other church members need to "go through it" with him. They need to treat his crisis as if it were their own. They need to assist him as they would want to be assisted if it was their own problem. Allow me to illustrate. Let's say that someone in the church loses a loved one. The church membership needs to rally to that grieving member and care for them during those days leading up to the funeral. I think most of the time most churches do a pretty good job with that. Where we tend to fail though is that once the funeral is over most of the members go back to their own lives. The family of the deceased does not. They are still suffering; if not from their loss, then certainly from their new circumstances of life. They need the rest of us to suffer with them even after the immediate "crisis" is over.
Paul then adds that we should rejoice with those who receive honor. Unfortunately, so folks tend to get bitter when someone else is elevated and they are not. They question why "that guy" got a raise, or a new car, or a position in the church, instead of them. They may get upset with the honored brother, and often they get embittered towards God. This is not the Lord's plan. We should be excited when our fellow Christians receive special blessings. It should also be noted here that this applies in the area of spiritual gifts as well, which is a major part of Paul's theme in this passage. Rather than be bothered by the fact that someone else in the church has an "up front" ministry in the church, or a special gift or talent, we should rejoice that God has given that to them. If someone has received one of the "lesser" gifts, we should honor them as well because they are necessary to the church's well-being (I Corinthians 12:22-23).
Are you suffering and rejoicing with your fellow church members?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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