Walk in Love: Stir up
1 Corinthians 13:7-8
Love…believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.
LOVE believes, hopes and endures
all things, so WALK stirring one another
up to love and good deeds.
Believes – pisteuo – to have faith, put trust in, to think to be true, to place confidence in.
Hopes – elpizo – to expect with desire, to hope, to trust in.
Endures – hupomeno – to remain under, i.e. to persevere, to bear up under.
Stir Up – paroxysmos – an inciting, to provoke in a good sense, a sharpening, used figuratively to mean, an encouragement to some action or feeling.
Hebrews 10:24-25
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.
Life is hard! 1 Corinthians 13 acknowledges this when it speaks of a love that believes, hopes and endures ALL things. Sometimes walking in faith and trust is hard. When our dreams, desires and expectations collide with our reality, it’s often hard to have hope. When life seems like a tidal wave washing over us, it’s hard to endure and persevere. Life is just hard sometimes! And then there is the issue of getting “stuck” – we tend to like things to be convenient, comfortable, stable and predictable. We like to settle into a routine and change is not always welcomed.
All of these “hard” things and “rut” things of life are the reasons we are called to walk stirring up one another to love and good deeds – to keep believing, keep trusting, keep hoping, keep enduring. And we can! Because…our God IS faithful. Our God IS hope. Our God IS eternal and His love and faithfulness endures forever!
When we stir up one another we encourage others to take action. We are sharpening one another. “Stirring up one another to love and good deeds” pushes us beyond our comfort zones and out of our rut-living and encourages us to keep believing, keep hoping and keep enduring!
So how do we “stir up” one another?
- Encourage them to use a gift or talent you see in them to help others and further God’s kingdom.
- Take someone out for coffee and just listen to their heart or heartache.
- Invite them to participate in a ministry/mission project you are part of or to attend Bible study or small group with you.
- Pray for them in your personal time as well as with them.
- Share an aspect of God’s character with them to encourage them with whatever life situation they are facing.
- Share a verse of Scripture to encourage them.
- Plan a community project with others to impact your city/community and share the love of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:8-11
He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalm 31:24
Be strong and take heart all you who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 100:5
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Is there someone you need to “stir up” today?
Women’s Bible Study Teacher
This post first appeared on the blog, susancady.com, ©2013
