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Scripture
I Thessalonians 5:14
Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.
Observation
Lazy, timid, and weak…this is addressing a lot of people. Those that are lazy need to be addressed…those that are timid should be motivated…and those that are weak should be cared for. I see this as a beautiful picture of the church, in which everyone is taken into account and everyone is being addressed according to where they are at in their journey.
Application
The easy thing to do is to disregard the lazy, and to allow the timid to be by themselves. Yet this verse is telling me to take all people into account. The lazy need to be warned and the timid encouraged. It’s easy for me to care for the weak and even to be patient with others, but warning the lazy and encouraging the timid does not come natural to me – I must be honest…the natural tendency for me is to bypass or even write off the lazy and the timid. But I’m wrong and I need to be more in tune with this reality.
Prayer
Lord, help me to love others well. I want to love the way that You desire for me to love. I want to lead and shepherd the way You created me to. Forgive me for writing people off and bypassing them. I want to learn how to warn the lazy in a way that is respectful to them and pleasing to You. In Jesus name, amen!
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