PASSAGE: Hebrews 3:13 - But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
PAUSE: The spiritual life is a battle, but it is never a battle that God intended for us to fight alone. We must speak truth and life into each other. But to be honest, this kind of speaking is a rarity between brothers and sisters in the modern church! The mindset is that nobody has the right to speak anything strong or corrective to someone else. So, we live as spiritually lethargic islands where nobody impacts anyone else. But this passage says that in the context of loving Christian community, when we see a pattern of sin or spiritual blindness in a brother or sister, we are not to shut up but speak up. Exhort, speak the truth in love. Speak the wisdom of God’s Word into their foolishness. I still remember as a young believer having an older friend speak frankly to me about an area of foolish living in my life. It was a wake-up call that turned me around! It was exactly what I needed.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help us to surround ourselves with other believers who will lovingly exhort us towards You! Amen.
