7 look at what is before your eyes. if anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. 8 for even if i boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, i will not be ashamed. 9 i do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 for they say, “his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” 11 let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. [2 corinthians 10:7-12]
“to build up” in the greek language of the new testament means – “the process of strengthening or make one more able”.
who has invested in you the things of Christ? who has helped strengthen or make you more able to follow Jesus, to look like Jesus through time, relationship, a commitment to you?
who are you investing in, helping process, helping be “built up” in the things of Christ Jesus?
i would love for you to go back and re-read this passage again. look at the relationship involved. see the human interaction – the blood, sweat, and tears. imagine the process, the time, and the courage poured into by paul. before you read, pray and ask the Spirit to enlighten the eyes of your heart (eph 1:18) so you can see how God has built you up and who he has used. ask God to fill you with praise for his divine work in you and for the human hands, voice, and love that accompanied him in this work.
i want to encourage you to spend some time in praise, and in thanksgiving for God’s work and for his worker(s), his servant(s) in your life. i would even exhort you to write these things down. it will help you remember, it will help the process. and, i want to encourage you (this might even build you up), to take a moment today and call this person(s) God has used. encourage them, build them up in Christ by saying thank you for their time, their investment, their love they have poured out in you.
may the Lord use us today to “build one another up”.
i thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. [philippians 1:3-5]
~ john ryan