The Strong in the Faith have a Responsibility to the Weak!

In Ecclesiastes 12:1 we read: "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth..." Youth speaks of strength, vigor, stamina, much energy, and livelihood. Paul, exhorting the Roman believers tells them who are strong that they have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please themselves in what they do. Christians who operate in the love and nature of Christ know and understand what living sacrificially means. They will go the extra mile to see that the weaker believer is strengthened by their efforts. This is what Christianity is all about. Something that is seen less and less even within the walls of the Church. The exact words that Paul uses is typically how we behave in this time and age – 'selfishness and self-pleasing people'! The point is that we are either strong believers or weak believers!

Romans 15:1-2 “Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up.”

When we adhere to what God’s says in His Word, that makes us strong and when we don’t, that makes us weak. Paul seriously emphasizes that there is a responsibility that rests on the shoulders of those who are strong in the faith. They have been through many trials and persecutions and have prevailed and have been strengthened because of those experiences. Now Paul encourages us to also help those who are weaker than ourselves so that we empower the Body of Christ into becoming all that God has ordained for it. Humanly we fall short of fully understanding what God has in store for us simply because we do not see the big picture or the end result. But God who knows the end from the beginning is advising us through His Word to take responsibility and help the weak.

Christ completed His task and assignment when He hung on the cross and took on Himself the sins and iniquities of us all. He paid the price in full. But we are not exempt from sinful nature until we come to Christ, receive His forgiveness, and allow ourselves to be washed in His blood and purified through His Word. This purification that I speak about is one that allows us to grow in His grace and learn of Him. We put aside our frail nature, our weaknesses and faults and now walk the path of righteousness for His name’s sake. Receiving all this is not simply so that we can go to heaven, it is to be a part of God’s plan of redemption for humanity. We are either in God’s team to reach as many people as possible for Him, or we are working against Him. It is up to us to decide on whose side we are!

This race calls for patience, kindness, love, peace, joy, happiness, long suffering, and faith. These qualities must become a reality in the way we live because these traits are the marks that identify us and reveal that we are truly the children of God. In Matthew 7:16 we read: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” So often we have churches that place more emphasis upon the ‘Gifts of the Spirit’ and totally ignore the ‘fruit of the Spirit.’ If the fruit is not resident, the gift is not reliable! Don’t get caught up in emotional frenzies people display. God wants those who will worship Him to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! Remember that we who are strong in the faith have a responsibility to help grow those who are weaker than us so that we together become a house of prayer for all nations!