Ben Pearce: Personal Topic 3 Post 5

Sacred Communication with Fellow Believers

Student Topic

Communication with Brothers and Sisters in Christ

            After prayer with God, the most sacred communication that can be had is with fellow believers. There are several ways the believers can communicate with each other: by loving one another, confessing to one another, and encouraging one another.

            “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another (John 13:34)”. As Christians, the newest commandment that Christ had given to us was to love one another. This is the most distinguishing mark of a Christian, that he will love his spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ (1 John 4:21). This breaks down all barriers between believers. Whatever skin color or nation, the Christian will love his brothers. This type of communication is done almost completely without words. It is an action towards another showing a legitimate care for them and their eternal soul.

            “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working (James 5:16)”. Believers don’t need to confess their sin to a priest to be forgiven of sins (for they were forgiven when they believed (Romans 5:1)), but a part of the Christian relationship is being transparent about your faults and failures with each other. When we confess our sins, we are going to be held accountable for them by our brothers and sisters. They will continue to support our battle against the flesh and pray for our repentance. This allows us to depend on one another and not our own selves.

            “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:11)”. Encouraging one another does not mean we allow each other to sin, but we remind each other of our common salvation, and we help each other conquer over sins that destroy us. As we encourage one another we point each other to Christ too and to his salvific sacrifice.

            These are not the only way that Christians can communicate with each other. We can also teach one another (Colossians 3:16), comfort one another (1 Thessalonians 4:18), admonish one another (Romans 16:14), and forgive one another (Ephesians 4:32). Communicating with each other serves to keep the community that we have been given in Christ Jesus, and it ensures that we serve others as he has served us.