Ministry is so often mutually encouraging.

Perhaps you start leading a Bible study for some new Christians in your church. Or maybe you and your husband kick off a discipleship group for younger couples in your sphere. It could be that you’re asked to be the speaker at a particular women’s event or that you decide to read the Bible with a friend who has just recently converted. 

If you’re anything like me, your pride might tempt you to focus on how much you have to offer in these relationships or situations: the wisdom you could share, the Bible knowledge you could impart, the spiritual maturity you could display. The focus subtly shifts to ourselves as the source of encouragement and wisdom.  

The desire to encourage others isn’t necessarily sinful! We’re created to be in fellowship together and should love our brothers and sisters by speaking truth to them. Paul starts his sentence in these verses by expressing his desire to see his brothers and sisters in Christ in Rome: he misses them and wants to encourage them in the Lord, to see their faith in Jesus being made stronger. We as cross-cultural workers can relate to this poignant yearning! 

But he quickly clarifies his desire by expressing the realization that ministry is mutually encouraging. We don’t often think about the apostle Paul as a regular human being, but here we find him looking forward to the prospect of having his own faith encouraged by fellowship with the Christians in Rome. The encouragement would not simply be one-way; his faith would be strengthened by being with them and by their relationship with Jesus.  

Doesn’t that prove to be so often true for us too? We find that our time spent reading the Bible with that new Christian or the fellowship with the younger couples leads to spiritual growth and encouragement in our own hearts. We’re reminded of all He has done for us and how much we still need Him. We take joy in what the Lord is doing in their hearts and walk away with our own faith strengthened. Thanks be to God for the gift of fellowship with fellow Christians!