To Encourage You

Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

Among all the things that are true about Christians, one of the main things is that they are not meant to be “lone rangers.”  Christians need other Christians; that’s just the way it is and the way God meant it to be.  The Church is known as a body, i.e., the body of Christ.  That’s a wonderful truth when one considers that we are actually united to Christ in such an intimate and life-giving way. 

However, we are also shown by this metaphor that none of us, in and of ourselves, is the body.  We need all the other members of that body to properly function in our life in Christ. The Scriptures tell us that “the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, ’Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:14-26). 

One example of how this works is in the command to “rejoice with those who rejoice” in the verse from Romans 12 above.  While we are commanded as individuals that we should “Rejoice in the Lord, always” (Philippians 4:4), the fact is that many times there are things that impact our lives in a way that we certainly don’t feel like rejoicing.  It’s at those times that surrounding ourselves with godly, joyful Christians that have likewise been so commanded to rejoice, can help.  Joy is contagious and being with joyful people rubs off on us.

On the other hand, to “weep with those who weep” is the other side of this coin.   While we are not to retain our joy to ourselves but share it with others, we are to also share their sorrows with them.  No Christian is ever meant to weep in secret, isolated, alone.  Other believers are to reach out to them in that sorrow and help them carry that burden.  One never knows when they will be the next one to need an uplift. 

In all of this, it is a sharing in the body of Christ that is actually happening.  Christ, the head of the body, is directing the individual members so that He, through them, can bring His love, mercy, kindness, and compassion to those who are in great need of it. 

What a blessing of being either on the giving or receiving end of this fullness of Christ.  He is alone sufficient for every need, yet, how often, and probably usually, He meets those needs as He works through His body of believers ministering grace to those who are in need.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons Jesus said, “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30) for whatever that burden may be, it is never meant to be carried alone in the body of Christ. 

Just one more reason the Scriptures exclaim, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways” (Romans 11:33)!