Instruct and Care for One Another

Instruct One Another

I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Romans 15:14. One of the things that God tells us to ask for and that he will freely give is wisdom. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5. God knows that it doesn’t take long for us to start acting in our foolish ways, because like sheep we have all gone astray. We all wander off and seeking wisdom is one way we stay on the straight and narrow. God knows that once our thinking becomes off, our lifestyle will soon follow in its footsteps and the road to destruction is wide. We are also called to help keep our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the right direction as well. But if we are going to give instruction and advice, we better be willing to be on the receiving end of that as well. This, however, is not always easy. It hurts our pride when we are told we are not living in the right way. Speaking the truth in love means to humbly pointing out areas of inconsistency in their walk with Christ and warning them of potential dangers. True love is having a stronger desire to keep our loved ones safe rather than keeping them happy.

Care for One Another

 But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1 Corinthians 12:24-26. Most married couples would tell you that they want unity in their marriage. Because if you don’t have unity, you have division. But that’s why we are to think of our marriage relationship as being only one body, not two.

After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Ephesians 5:29-31. Paul uses this illustration of the human body to show how we are the church body are supposed to care for one another. The same way is true in our marriages. If we are flesh of Adam’s flesh and bone of his bone, we are to act as one flesh towards our spouses. To be mean and spiteful to your own body is not a normal thing. Think of your marriage as a three-legged race, you can’t go running off in different directions. You are bound together, and you will cross the finish line faster if you work together in unity.