D.L.

LIVE

Learn – Inspiration – Vision – Encounter

“Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.”
(Romans 15,2 CSB17)

When Denise and I came to Northern Ireland to study and later to settle, we did not have family ties here. Her family was in England, and my family was in Chile. We had an extensive family spread throughout the world, with brothers and sisters from many countries who served. We lived together onboard the ship Logos 2 (Operation Mobilisation).

We arrived with our bags and landed at Belfast City Airport, which no longer resembles the new George Best Belfast City Airport.

We know first-hand what it is like to have good friends and neighbours, and some of them have become like families to us.
In Chapter Fifteen, Paul encourages his readers to be salt and light and to live lives that please not just the Lord but also those without strength, especially our neighbours. Now, the word “please” here is used so that our lives reflect the servant character of Jesus. We are servants who serve not only in church but also to those with whom we live.

How do we serve? In this verse, we are told how to build them up and encourage them. In New Testament terms, this means being prophetic, not telling them about the future or an event but applying the very essence of prophecy, which is encouraging, building up, and comforting.

A word of encouragement builds our neighbours, brings hope, and allows faith to be experienced.

We are so thankful for our friends and neighbours; you have provided a spring well of encouragement that has smoothed and refreshed our lives.

The English novelist Jane Austen might have had this passage of Scripture in mind when she wrote, “Incline us, oh God, to think humbly of ourselves, to be severe only in the examination of our own conduct, to consider our fellow creatures with kindness, and to judge of all they say and do with that charity which we would desire from them ourselves.”

(Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, eds. Max Anders, vol. 6 of Holman New Testament Commentary).