Who needs to be strengthened?

And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. Acts 18:22-23

The last two posts have been about how, or by what means disciples are strengthened. This time let’s consider who, or which disciples need to be strengthened. The text says Paul went about strengthening ALL the disciples. Two things:

ALL disciples need to be strengthened. There is no hierarchy of discipleship. There are not average disciples as compared with super disciples, and we make a mistake when we think there is. None of us are exempted from the need. In fact the mandate is to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). The only distinction is that there are those who desire to grow in the Lord and those who are content to remain as babes in Christ.

YOU need to be strengthened. YOU need to grow in grace. Please do not settle to remain weak in your faith. While the ordinary means of grace are the way all who desire to grow are strengthened, they do no good unless we practice those means. If you want to grow, I trust you know how. If you have no particular desire to grow (evidenced by a neglect of the means of grace), please pray and then commit yourself to being strengthened.

If you are unsure of how to get started, or have tried and petered out, ask for counsel. I am here to help.