Beautiful Word: Your Daily Devotion

Daily Scriptural Insights, Curated by the Editors of CT | [View online]( [ChristianityToday.org]( [Beautiful Word Newsletter]( Monday, June 26, 2017 Relying on the Body [Andrea Lucado]( Lucado&db=true) Today’s Verse “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 (NIV) For those who walk the journey of faith, doubt is inevitable. It is not so much a question of if you will doubt, but when. It creeps in in various forms. You may doubt the basics, such as the existence of God. Or you may doubt an aspect of the faith, such as the validity of Scripture or God’s character. Whatever form doubt arrives in, shame is often its common companion. What would people think if they knew the questions you were secretly asking? We tend to be ashamed of our doubts, so we keep them to ourselves. The New Testament portrays the early church as a community of believers who relied on each other for every need: physical, relational, and spiritual. Paul tells the church in Thessalonica, a city rife with pagan idolatry, to “warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14). Encourage the disheartened. Help the weak. We will not always feel strong in our faith. Circumstances rattle us. We are surrounded by beliefs that are at odds with the gospel. But we were not meant to live the life of faith alone; we were meant to practice our faith in community—in the body of Christ—encouraging those who are faint of heart and helping those who are weak. You don’t have to travel the road of doubt alone. Don’t let shame keep your questions and fears in the dark. We were not called to be strong every second of every day. We are called to rely on Christ as our strength and to rely on the body for what we need, even when what we need most is faith. Reflect: Read 1 Thessalonians 5:14. How could you rely on the body of Christ in your struggles right now? Or how could you be an encouragement to someone else in his or her struggles? Pray: Thank God for the gift of community. Ask for strength to reach out to someone today and be honest with that person about your faith journey. Or ask God if there is anyone in your life whom you could encourage. Andrea Lucado is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas. She is the author of [English Lessons: The Crooked Path of Growing Toward Faith](. Follow her at [AndreaLucado.com](, on [Instagram](, or [Twitter](. [Read devotions online]( | [Share with a friend](mailto:&subject=Christianity Today Women: Relying on the Body&body= More for Women [Finding My 'True Self' As a Same-Sex Attracted Woman]( [Finding My 'True Self' As a Same-Sex Attracted Woman]( In my young-adult struggle with sexual identity, both legalistic condemnation and progressive license left me floundering. Bekah Mason [Marriage Lessons from the Luthers]( [Marriage Lessons from the Luthers]( Katharina and Martin Luther lived 500 years ago, but they can teach us much about how to live well in our own modern-day marriages. Michelle DeRusha Follow Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [RSS]( [Subscribe to this newsletter]( In the Current Issue [July/August]( [How to Find Hope in the Humanless Economy]([Subscriber access only] [Immigrants Are Reshaping American Missions]([Subscriber access only] [How God Sent His Word to An Iraqi Interpreter]( [View Full Issue]( [Subscribe Now]( Christian Bible Studies [Is It Okay to Doubt?]( ) What to do when the questions creep in by Ann C. Sullivan [Beautiful Word]( Delivered via email to subscribers daily. [Subscribe]( | [Email Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Advertise]( | [Subscribe to CT]( You are currently subscribed as: {EMAIL} Copyright ©2017 [ChristianityToday.org]( Christianity Today, 465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188. All rights reserved.