The Faith Church Membership Covenant is a great reminder not only to church members, but believers everywhere. Looking into this document points us to the truths of the Word of God and the ways in which we are called to please our Lord!
Today, we will look at the next section in this document as a whole:
I further purpose to encourage the other believers of Faith Church in the blessed hope of our Lord’s return; to watch over them in brotherly love; to remember them in prayer; to aid them in sickness and distress; to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech; and to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and to seek it without delay.
As discussed in previous blogs, believers are called to love one another in a way that is a reflection of Christ. Looking at how Christ loves others, we can see that this is not an easy thing to measure up to. Christ was perfect in His love and always handled every situation with grace and wisdom. He knew when to be stern and when to be soft. He made the ultimate sacrifice for all of mankind because of His love for people, and He calls us to have this same passion to those around us!
We are called to love everyone, but within the body of Christ there is a special bond. We are all striving for the same goal and are excited about the same God. We can encourage each other through the Word of God and know that it is true. There is simply something special about the bond between believers.
In this section of the covenant, the specific focus is loving fellow believers. It can be easy to become passive in friendships and forget to encourage, point toward hope, pray for, help, sympathize with, work things out with, etc. Yet, this kind of complacency brings with it a lonely lacking. The blessings of having Christ- and others-focused relationships far outweigh the difficulties, and are one of God’s many mercies to us on this earth.
Loving fellow believers sacrificially and with grace and wisdom is something we all need to continually grow in, and is often a topic of teaching and discussion at Vision of Hope. We believe it is important for our ladies to graduate our program not only free from bondage to sin, but also able to reflect Christ in other areas of life as well, and how to interact with others is a big way they can do that.
Let’s ask the Lord to help us see ways in which we are not being Christ-like in our love for fellow believers. May He strengthen us to be willing to grow and change to be more like Him!
