While confrontation is sometimes necessary, oftentimes people who are struggling just need edification, and life change will follow.  When you’re only thinking about the negatives, it’s easy to get discouraged, to get frustrated, to give up, to give in to temptation, to see yourself in a way that God doesn’t see you.  And none of these are God’s will for you — I guarantee it.

Here is something to dwell on:

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

In the end, the only thing that’s going to matter is God’s glory because all sin will be washed away.  It only matters whether we are able to stand to see Him, or whether we are washed away along with everything else.  But if you accept Jesus’s free gift of eternal life, Christ’s blood has made you pure, and God no longer looks at your sin.

Arming ourselves with the same attitude, let’s invert the negatives.  Let’s fix our eyes not on temporary setbacks in the lives of others, but on the assurance that all followers of Jesus have the same, wonderful destination.  And let that assurance pull us through.  It is good and edifying to accept one other and build each other up in our pursuit of Christ-likeness.  We all have the same goal!

Jesus, it is You who must dwell richly within our hearts, so that we may pick each other up when we fall, together running to your arms.

When we dwell in the darkness,
Even there we welcome you,
Until the place where we live
Is where we live in the light.

Now that we’re talked about the importance of edification, I wanted to hear from you guys: what are some good, practical ways that you seek to “make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification“ (Romans 14:19)?  I want to use your input to help construct my next post.