Daily Devotion February 7--Edifying one another

February 7

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Our spiritual growth is not just a personal matter.  The entire church is affected by how much we hunger for the word of God, how deeply we delve into it, and how Christlike we strive to be.  But it is not enough for us to grow in solitude.  We must work together to help our brothers and sisters in Christ grow also.

Helping other Christians grow is not just the responsibility of our pastors or evangelists.  This verse says for the word of Christ to dwell in us and for us to teach and admonish one another.  That means it is our responsibility to help one another mature in Christ.  We must be willing to look to the scriptures to give wise advice to each other.  We can't just haphazardly throw out our opinions.  We must base our counsel on what the Lord says.  We must help to build each other up as well as warning those who are veering away from what Christ teaches.

I especially love that this scripture speaks of singing.  The old hymns still have much to offer us today.  Quite often we do literally sing the Psalms.  And new songs can be help helpful for us, too, as long as they are based in the gospel.   Music can be encouraging, admonishing and remind us of God's grace.

To help one another is not an intrusive act but by doing so we are being obedient to Christ.  When someone needs to admonish us, it is important for us to have a teachable attitude and a humble heart. We all need encouragement and an occasional word to remind us of what is right in God's eyes.

As we go through the day, let us strive to be an encourager to others while also being open to encouragement from others.