Bearing With One Another Series

God is committed to building people up and is greatly grieved when we demolish what He has designed. Isaiah 57:14: “Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people’s way.” Are you a hindrance or are you a helper? God doesn’t want obstacles to stand in the way of someone’s growth. He longs for builders in the body of Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Part of building others up is recognizing how we might irritate others. Is there anything you’re doing right now which annoys those around you? One of my bad habits is not answering Beth when she calls my name looking for me in our house. I know it bugs her, but for some reason I keep doing it. That’s something I can change (if I want to).

If you know you’re rubbing people the wrong way with something you’re doing, then maybe you should change.

Because Jesus bears with us, we can bear with one another.

3. Look up (3). We’ll only put up and build up if we’re looking up. Notice verse 3: “For Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written, ‘the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.’” As we fix our eyes on Jesus, we’ll be reminded He did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). Paul quotes Psalm 69:9 to show how Jesus embraced the insults of irritating people. He didn’t please Himself and He took on reproaches which were not His to bear, so good could come to others.

If you find yourself getting irritated and annoyed all the time, it’s probably because you’re not looking up enough. Matthew 17:8 tells us what three of the disciples did when they saw Jesus transfigured: “And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” Look up at Jesus and remember He puts up with you and He bears with the person who is bugging you. When you lift your eyes and only see Jesus, you’ll be less prone to see the problems in other people.

Greg Laurie tweeted some advice this week: “Before you get caught in the crazy cycle of hurt and forgiveness, try shifting your glance away from the one who hurt you and setting your eyes on the One who saved you.”

Because Jesus bears with us, we can bear with one another.

4. Grow up (4). If we’re ever going to bear with the porcupine people in our lives, we must also take responsibility to grow up in our faith. We grow by daily spending time in Scripture and joining a discipleship group or growth group.

Look at verse 4: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” The phrase “former days” refers to the Old Testament and the giving of instructions like the 10 Commandments, which will be our next sermon series called, “Written in Stone.”

The word “endurance” relates to how we deal with life’s problems and people’s weaknesses. The Bible encourages us so we can be filled with hope – hope that others will change, and more importantly, that we will change.