Day 340: A Good Support

3 John 1:5-11

5 Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing for such teachers in a manner that pleases God. 7 For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers. 8 So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth. I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. 10 When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. 11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.

Psalms 133:1

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

As the people of God were traveling and preaching they would not accept anything from unbelievers. Therefore it became the duty of the believers to support the apostles as they came to town. However a certain someone was telling the people not to give anything to them, and if they did they were put out of the church. But before that the scripture says that by caring for the traveling teachers we are being faithful to God. By providing for them and giving them what they need we are pleasing God. It does not please God that we let His people and our brothers and sisters in christ starve or sleep outside when we have a bed or at least extra room for them. There’s a couple of things I want to discuss today, one being the importance of support within the body of Christ and also unity in this body.

It is so important that we as a people support one another and not let division drive us apart.  If anyone should support anyone it should be the body of Christ. If no one supports us we should support one another. There needs to be unity in the body of Christ. Our support system needs to be strengthened. It’s a part of being selfless and walking in humility like Christ. We must think of others, it is also another example of loving your neighbor. There are many ways in which we can support each other that extends far beyond lending a helping hand or giving someone food. When we think of things like being generous we often only apply that generosity to people who are less fortunate than us. But what if we applied that generosity to our brothers and sisters in christ? What if we started showing up for one another and being there for one another? What if we just decided to cheer each other on? We all need a good support group and the body of Christ should be just that. It’s more than being a cheerleader for each other, but it’s not just praying and loving from a distance either. As an artist one of the most amazing things to see is artists supporting other artists. Art in any form is a profession often looked down upon by many, but we are a thriving community because we support one another’s work and art. We believe in one another when no one else does. Can the body of Christ be like this. The body of christ thrives because we are all together. We are one body moving through life together. We thrive because we lift one another up, we are there for one another. We cannot count on the world but we can count on one another. We are doing the will of God when we decide to support one another. This is why unity within the body of Christ is so important.

The scripture talks about how Diotrephes would kick anyone out of the church when they helped the travelers who came to preach the gospel, because he wanted to be the leader. We cannot allow division in the body of Christ. We cannot allow people to come in and try to stop us from being there for one another. We stand as a united front, when one falls we are all there to strengthen and pick them back up. When one is in need we are all there to help and give where we can.

It reminds me of the church in the books of Acts when the believers sold their positions and brought them to the church so that no one would be in need.

Acts 4:32-35

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. 33 The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. 34 There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them 35 and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

All this to say, be supportive of one another. Not just in church, but in life. Go support that friend at their show, help with that fundraiser. We must be cheerleaders for one another, being a support group from heaven. Take the time to be there for someone else, support isn’t a one time thing, it’s continuous.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. Whatever is on your heart talk to God about it. Pray for unity and support within the body of Christ.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 341!