As Christians, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. This is something I've heard a lot about but not necessarily how to do it. It's something you hear in the church a lot that we are called to do but how do you do it? More importantly, how do you effectively do it?
To start off with we should, as Christians, all understand that we have this responsibility. 1 Peter 3:8 says, "Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. " (NLT). Loving each other is the second greatest commandment in the Bible so it makes sense that as brothers and sisters in Christ we are supposed to do this (Mark 12:31). But how do you love?
Encourage one another. This is something my mom constantly told my sisters when we were growing up. She used Ephesians 4:29 as a reference, "...Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them." She would ask us after we presumedly said something not that great to the other: Was that good and helpful? Was that encouragement?" The answer was usually no and then she would make us write the verse 50 times until we got the point. And we got it because I have that verse memorized now. So as brothers and sisters in Christ we are called to do the same thing. Before speaking to one another we should always ask ourselves: Is this good? Will this help someone? Will this be encouraging?"
Keep each other accountable. At church, we talk about "accountability partners" a lot. This would be someone who would keep us accountable to read our Bible, pray, and make sure that we are keeping up our relationship with God. Galatians 6:1-2 says, "Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ." This one can be a little tricky. We want to make sure that we are on the right path and the person that we are keeping accountable is on the right path. We should all have someone to keep us accountable because we aren't meant to do this life alone.
Point each other back to Christ and his word. This one encompasses all the others. If we are ever in doubt on the advice we should give, we should go to the Bible and show them what the Bible says. There are lots of things I have friends ask me about that I don't know anything or very little about. So instead of saying "I don't know" I use google to search for what the bible says about it. We have all the information we need at our fingertips (as cliche as it sounds) so we should use it. God gave us the Bible to help us guide through life so we should use.
Encouraging one another, keeping each other accountable, and pointing each other back to Christ and his word is our responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ. When your friend is depressed don't just pray for them. Find verses to encourage them. When you see your friend straying from their faith call them out in love. When someone asks you a hard question point them to specific verses they can study to find the answers. Let's take up our responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ and love each other as ourselves.
