What it Means to Edify – Have you ever noticed how easy the job of a fault-finder is? The minute I walk into the kitchen I can find 10 things to complain about. And sometimes I do, when I find grimy pots in the sink or dirty plates on the cupboard. But then I’m reminded that love looks for the best and hopes for the best in each other, the way that my dad always looked for the best in my mom.
Dad was a handyman, and he was well known for that. In fact, someone scribbled “Andy the Handyman” on his toolbox with a black sharpie once. If he wasn’t fixing something in the house, he was building something like a deck, a rec room, or a make-shift door.
But that’s not all he was building. Over the years, he was building our family up with his words. Brick by brick he was laying a foundation of encouragement, inspiration, hope, and faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”
The Greek word for edify that we see there is oikodomeō (Strongs G3618). It means to build up a home or erect a building. The word is also used to describe a restoration, repair, or a rebuild.
So, how do we do that? How do we restore and rebuild the relationships we’ve torn down? By comforting each other with tenderhearted encouragement, by putting away anger and wrath, by giving each other grace, and forgiving as Christ forgave us.
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Tilling the Soil
Read Read Ephesians Chapter 4 where Paul talks about Christian living and unity in the body of Christ.
Planting Hope
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29, NIV)
Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.
She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.
It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.
Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.
Connect with Darlene:
Facebook: @timewarpwife
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You are loved by an almighty God,
Darlene Schacht
The Time-Warp Wife