God wants you to grow so that you can realize the full potential of your new life in Christ and fulfill God’s purposes for your life.
One aspect of your relationship with God is to help others grow spiritually. In other words, God wants you to be His (junior) partner in helping others realize their full potential as a new creation in Christ and fulfill His purposes for their life!
In fact, others will be helping you grow in your relationship with God as well.
God directs us to encourage, instruct, and spur one another toward spiritual maturity. The New Testament Testament is full of “one another” commandments.
I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge, and competent to instruct one another.
Romans 15:14
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
2 Corinthians 13:11
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:10-11
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:13
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25
Encourage, Instruct, and Spur One Another
The Church does not thrive on a few spiritual superstars. The Scriptural passages above call everyone into the foundational work of building each other up. It is not solely the church leaders’ work to help Christians grow spiritually. In the Church, everyone encourages, teaches, and motivates one another, and should do so with the warmth and equality of teammates. No one in a congregation is more important than another, but everyone shares the important responsibility of encouraging.
Runners in a relay race do this. Though equal as teammates, they instruct each other as they practice. During a race, they are each other’s strongest supporters, yelling encouragement, and urging every last ounce of exertion from their teammates. Then, when the baton is passed, they run, feeding off the encouragement of the ones they were encouraging just moments before.
Each individual runner competes, encourages, and instructs in a manner unique to them. But they are united by a common purpose, and they reach a shared goal through their unique contributions in the service of something bigger than any of their individual efforts.
It is important to help others grow spiritually because Christian discipleship requires teamwork among Christians with the Holy Spirit as the Master Teacher.
As the Holy Spirit impresses upon you the importance of helping others grow, we encourage you to become actively involved in a local fellowship of believers and to obey the “one another” commandments of the Lord.
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