We are all part of the body of Christ. We each have a part to play in God’s plan for His Kingdom. We are to encourage and build each other up. We are to fellowship together. We are to speak the truth of God’s Word. We are to be united in Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:27)

Build Up

As children of God we are a community. We are the body of Christ. We are His church. God gives us the community of believers as support. We are brothers and sisters in Him. (Ephesians 4:12, Ephesians 4:15-16)

Encourage 

Together we can encourage each other in our daily lives and our walk with Christ. Through hard times and good we can help each other through God’s Word and His Spirit we can help and offer support. We should love, respect and accept our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

In everything we do we are to work together, not divide or judge. We are all different because God specifically made us that way. He uses us individually and as a group for His Kingdom. We should be a refuge for each other. (Philippians 2:1-2, Philippians 2:3-4, Philippians 2:5)

Lift Up

Through prayer we can intercede for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have the privilege to bring them to God’s throne. Intercessory prayer is powerful. God moves when we pray for others. We can pray over them, God’s Word and His promises. We can lift them up to the one who is able to do more than we can imagine or fathom. (Ephesians 3:20)

There are many examples of intercessory prayer in the Bible. 

Moses prayed for the Israelites many times. (Numbers 11:2, Numbers 21:7, Psalm 106:23, Exodus 32:11-12, Exodus 32:13-14)

Moses prayed for Aaron and Miriam after they questioned his leadership and were punished by God. (Numbers 12:13)

David prayed for the people after God’s judgment fell on the nation because of his sin. (2 Samuel 24:25)

Peter prayed for Tabitha after she died and the community of believers were devastated. (Acts 9:40-41)

Each time God responded and powerfully moved. God forgave, healed, relented, and raised the dead.

We are told to pray for everyone and live peacefully as we walk with Christ. We are told to constantly pray. (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Comfort 

We can provide comfort to each other. We all have different experiences and can use those to relate to others situations. We are tied together spiritually and therefore we can offer support and hope. We can comfort as Christ comforts us. (2 Corinthians 1:4)

We have God’s Word. It is powerful. It is alive. Through it we find hope, peace, strength and comfort. Written by God in His love for us, we can offer it to others. (Isaiah 40:1)

God gives us His promises which we can lean on and trust. Then we can use them for others. (Proverbs 30:5)

Christ gives us His peace and we can give it to others. (John 14:27)

Christ gives us strength which we can share. (Psalm 29:11)

In Christ we can comfort, love, and support our brothers and sisters in Christ. We can pray for God to give them strength and peace. We can offer hope through God Word and His promises. We can come alongside them and offer our support and testimony of what God has done for us. We can listen and love each other in our trying times. (Romans 1:12)

Rejoice and Weep 

We are told to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. We are told to rejoice always in every circumstance and situation. We can do this through the strength of Christ. This unites us in Christ’s love as we show it to our fellow Christians and the world. (Romans 12:15, 1 Corinthians 12:26)

Rejoicing is a choice we can make each day. It has nothing to do with what surrounds us. In our human nature seeing things only from a human perspective we cannot rejoice. Looking to Christ, seeing His perspective and trusting Him, not leaning on our own understanding, then we can rejoice in Him. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Seeing the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ and coming alongside them brings much needed support and hope for healing.

We don’t even need to speak, just be there for each other in good and bad times.

Speak Truth 

We all make mistakes and errors. God’s mercies are new every morning. We are not to judge, as that is God’s job, but we are to speak truth to each other. We need to stand for the truth of God’s Word. In Love for each other and Christ, we are to help correct one another when lead by His Spirit. Through God’s Word and His Spirit we can discern truth and help guide fellow believers. (Lamentations 3:23, James 4:11-12, Psalm 50:6, Psalm 119:66, Ephesians 5:8-10, Ephesians 5:11-13)

Rebuke 

Sometimes confronting believers is needed, but we must be careful to only be guided by God’s Spirit to do so. Our human nature can so easily get in the way. It must be done out of genuine concern and in love and compassion, but also firmness. (James 5:19-20)

Paul rebuked Peter when he acted one way around his fellow Jews and another around Gentiles. (Galatians 2:11-12, Galatians 2:12-14)

Jesus rebuked the man he healed who had not fully believed after being healed. (John 5:14)

Jesus rebuked Peter when he saw only from a human perspective. (Matthew 16:23)

Paul instructed the church to rebuke a fellow believer who had fallen into sin. (1 Corinthians 5:4-5)

Forgive

Forgiveness is essential. It’s necessary for us to move on and not be bound by the hurt others have caused. It is essential for those being forgiven so they can change. 

Paul instructed the church to forgive the offender. Forgiveness doesn’t mean release of consequences or minimizing the hurt and harm of the offense. (2 Corinthians 2:6-7)

Embrace

The purpose of all this is to bring back into fellowship a child of God. To bring them back into fellowship with the Lord and the body of Christ. We need to remember we are all prone to sin and temptation and we all have received God’s mercy, freely given to us by God because He loves us. We don’t deserve anything from Him, but he forgives us accepts us back when we repent. So we should do the same for fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who repent. (Ephesians 4:32)

Peter taught the church to embrace and accept back a believer who repents. (2 Corinthians 2:8)

Fellowship 

Fellowship can be many different things. It creates connections and community. It makes us realize we are not alone and there are others like us. It’s encouraging, challenging, strengthening and inspiring. (1 John 1:5-7)

Meet Together 

This brings fellowship. When we meet together with Christ at the center we learn from each other and grow together spiritually. Without it we can become stagnant in our walk with God. With others we gain encouragement, hope, and strength. 

The writer of Hebrews speaks of not giving up meeting together and to keep spurring each other on to love and good works, encouraging one another. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

Worship & Praise

Praising God together. Worshiping God together. It brings us closer to God and changes our perspective to His. Our praise and worship comes out of gratitude for what God has done for us. We can collectively share our stories and blessings and together praise God. (Acts 2:46-47)

One day we will worship at God’s throne where people from every nation and tribe praise God. Our worship and praise here on earth previews Heaven. (Revelation 7:9, Revelation 7:10)

It brings us together as His children. It focuses our minds on Christ.

Teach

God’s Word is useful for teaching, correcting and training. When we come together under Christ we can learn from each other. We can learn His Word and His ways. We learn how to walk in righteousness. God speaks to us. His mercy reaches out to us and His hand guides us. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

When we come together Christ is there, among us. In His Spirit we have unity with Him and our brothers and sisters in Christ. (Matthew 18:20)

United

In Christ we are brothers and sisters. We are family, spiritually. We are God’s children. We are heirs of His Kingdom with Christ. We are called to live united in Him. To be of one mind focused on Christ. To live together in harmony. Unity takes commitment and gives strength. (Philippians 2:2, Galatians 3:29)

We should love one another, put others needs first, live in peace, give grace and forgiveness, offer hope and reconciliation, in humbleness and gentleness. (Ephesians 4:1-2, Ephesians 4:3-4, Ephesians 4:5-6)

The Prayer of Jesus 

Jesus prayed His followers would be united. God wants us to be one, just like He is one with God the Father. Jesus said the world will know us by our love. When we live united in Him we show Christ to the watching world. (John 17:20-21, John 13:35)

Power

Unity is powerful. It links together and creates a strong bond. We are God’s children. We are to be bound together by love. As we live united, modeling Christ’s love and His ways we witness to others through our lives. God can use us most when we are united for Him. (Colossians 3:12-13, Colossians 3:14-15, Colossians 3:16-17)

Purpose 

Together we have a mission to spread God’s Good News and make disciples of all nations and tribes, teaching others and growing with each other. Our purpose is clear. God uses us individually and collectively in His great plan to bring people to Him and build His Kingdom through His plan of salvation. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Each of us has a purpose and plan from God. He makes a part for each of us in His story of grace and redemption. When we put it all together, God works mightily.

Spiritual Gifts

When we accept Christ in our lives and first believed, His Spirit filled us and He gave us each gifts. These gifts are meant to be used together with other believers. Some teach and some lead. Others serve and some support. Others encourage. Some go on missions. Others pray. Some have great faith. Others have great wisdom. Some have extensive knowledge. Others have discernment. Some can heal. Others can do miracles. Some build up through prophecy and inspiration by the Holy Spirit. Others speak in tongues and still others interpret. Some preach and others evangelize. God’s Spirit gives them individually to each believer as He sees fit for the purpose of His plan and Kingdom. (1 Corinthians 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 12:6-7, 1 Corinthians 12:8-9, 1 Corinthians 12:10-11, 1 Corinthians 12:28, 1 Corinthians 12:29-30, Ephesians 4:11)

Our Love

We will be known by our love for each other. It sets us apart as God’s children. Christ first loved us so we can love Him and others with the same love.  (Ephesians 4:2-3, John 15:12-13, 1 John 4:19)

The way we relate to and treat others especially fellow believers, should be as Christ in His love. Gentleness, kindness, understanding, humility, caring, peacefulness and purity should come through in our words and actions. (1 Timothy 5:1-2, Galatians 5:22-23, Galatians 5:24-25, Hebrews 13:16)

Our Witness

By our love the world will know we are Christ’s followers. We are meant to be a community, loving, supporting, caring, worshiping, growing, and unifying each other. It’s how it was meant to be. (John 17:22-23)

We were not meant to follow Christ by ourselves, but together with other believers. We need each other. (2 Corinthians 13:11)

Please follow and like:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.