Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV)
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [a]edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
This week, we are looking at the works of the ministry that every believer should be equipped to do. The purpose of these works is for the edification of the body of Christ which basically means to build up the body of Christ. Ministry is basically meeting the needs of people and as we know, the body of Christ is made up of people for we are the living stones that God has used to build up the body with Christ being the head.
To build up the body is to build up the believers. One of the things that stands out in the New Testament is the way we out to live one with another and things we ought to do for one another plus those things we should not do to each other. These I believe are guidelines on how we are to minister to each other and I believe that if we are careful to observe these instructions then we will have a strong body.
Be at peace with one another – Mark 9:50
Love one another – John 13:34; Romans 12:10; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11, 12
Build up one another – Romans 14:19; Ephesians 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Be of the same mind toward one another – Romans 12:16
Give preference to one another – Romans 12:10
Esteem others as better than yourself – Philippians 2:3
Serve one another – Galatians 5:13
Be devoted to one another – Romans 12:10
Rejoice or weep with one another – Romans 12:15
Admonish one another – Romans 15:14; Colossians 3:16
Care for one another – 1 Corinthians 12:25
Be kind and forgiving to one another – Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13
Submit to one another – Romans 12:10; Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 5:5
Encourage one another – 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13
Be truthful with one another – Colossians 3:9
These are some of the verses that govern what ministry to one another should look like. There are many more verses that we can add to this list. As we shared yesterday, when we remain connected to the vine, then these are the kind of things that will become a normal way of life for us because of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
