Another Purpose You Might be Fulfilling Without Knowing It

The word “edify” with various forms was selected by the Holy Spirit nineteen times in the New Testament (NT). Luke was led to use it once (Acts 9:31) and the Apostle Paul the remainder of times. According to James Strong [1] it basically means to build a house, erect a building, to build (up from the foundation), and to restore by building, to rebuild, repair.

It is most often used in connection with the collective disciples of Christ, which is called in the NT the Body of Christ and the Church. This indicates to Christ’s disciples that, in love, we are to mutually improve each other in godliness. And, lest anyone misunderstand, “Church” does not mean a building, but all true disciples of Christ around the world.

Disciples of Christ have a purpose from God to encourage each one to improve in godliness. Through the direction of the Holy Spirit and the written Word of God, we are to interact with each other in a way that increases the character of Christ within us. Hence, it is written (Eph. 5:18-20), “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” There are other ways mentioned in the NT, but the above passage is a great start.

Can those who are not true disciples do this? They can, but to a limited degree. Most societies have a vastly different set of standards than what God desires them to have. However, there are times even a true disciple can learn, and thus be improved, by a non-disciple of Christ. For example, a disciple might observe a fellow worker that has certain skills or methods that he can emulate to become a better worker himself. Or perhaps he has a non-disciple friend that has more patience than he does. This should spur on someone who truly loves Christ to develop that fruit of the Spirit within himself.

True disciples just need to be careful we absorb the things God wants us to absorb. We need to reject anything Christ Himself would not do or think.

If you are not a disciple of Christ, you might have many good points about you, but not fully based upon God’s Way for our life, Jesus Christ. The Word of God is clear that it is only in Him that we can have Eternal Life, and a truly abundant life now.

Notes:

[1] From an electronic copy of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance contained in the Online Bible program.

This is the third in a series of articles on personal purpose. If the Lord so wills, I shall live and write the fourth within two weeks. The first was Your Life Does Have a Purpose, and the second was You Might be Fulfilling One of Your Purposes Without Even Knowing It.