Return To Them
After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. -Acts 14:21-22
Paul and Barnabas didn’t just preach from town to town. Although their goal was to reach as many people as they could, their first priority was the people. They genuinely cared for the men and women that they were teaching. They new the information they were sharing was new and difficult to grasp, they understood that applying this new information to their lives would not be easy. Paul and Barnabas often returned to the towns they taught in. And if they didn’t return they were sure to write letters. They wanted to encourage their brothers and sisters, reassuring them in their new faith. As time progressed they wanted to teach them more. As well as they could, they made every effort to walk with their new friends in Christ making sure they kept growing and moving forward. Reassuring them that things would be hard but to stay the course and stick to their new faith in Jesus Christ.
Who have you encouraged lately?
It is important to remember those you have a spiritual connection to and never walk away. It is important that we, the Body of Christ, are encouraging each other, teaching each other, helping each other and holding each other accountable. Invest in the lives of those God has introduced you to! Sacrifice your time and your resources to return to someone, walk with someone and in doing so you will be strengthening them in their faith helping them grow stronger for their next journey.
After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing. -Acts 15:36
Who will you go back to?