Baptist City Blog

Life Builders

1 Corinthians 10:23

"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not."

It is very clear in the Book of 1 Corinthians that Paul's focus was to build people. Everything that he did was for this purpose. The word "edify" or some form of the word is seen several times throughout this book. The word "edify" means to build. However, it is more than just building, but it literally means to build a house. When you take into consideration that every Christian is the temple of the Holy Ghost, then you will realize that Paul was building Christian lives. There are several things that must be done if you desire to be a life builder.

First, only pursue endeavors that build people. Notice in the verse above that Paul's focus was building. You will not be successful in building people if you don't make that your primary focus. Everything you do must be with the purpose of building people.

Second, seek the welfare of others. In 1 Corinthians 10:24, Paul said that everything he did was for others and not for himself. In other words, if helping others hurt him, then he would hurt, but he would be sure to help build others. There are times in the Christian life when in building others you will get hurt, but if you want to successful in building people, you must be willing to put your own welfare aside for the sake of others.

Third, you build people by loving them. In 1 Corinthians 8:1, it is clearly stated that love is the only way to build others. Why is that? Because the Scriptures teach in Proverbs 10:12, "...but love covereth all sins." Notice that love is willing to overlook the weaknesses of others so you can build them. This covering of sin is not hiding it so they can get away with it, but it is being willing to overlook their weaknesses and see them as an individual so you can help them. You will never build people until you look beyond what they have done for the purpose of helping them grow. This takes love!

Fourth, you must learn to speak right to build people. Ephesians 4:29 talks about using proper communication to build people. Talking dirty will not build the lives of people. Dirty jokes and words have no part in the life of the Christian. Every word that comes from your mouth should have the purpose of building a person.

Fifth, comforting people builds people. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 commands us to comfort people so we can build them. Comforting people is simply being there for them in their time of need. Don't get so busy that when people need you that you are not there. Comforting people will be an inconvenience at times, but it builds people.

Sixth, defending the faith builds people. Paul made it clear to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:4 that he was to defend the faith so that people could be built. Too many preachers see defending the faith as divisive and hurtful. However, defending the faith is a way to build people. The only way you will build people is with the faith. If the faith is destroyed, then you cannot build. Therefore, we must defend the faith so that we can build people.

Last, preaching builds people. 1 Corinthians 14:3 shows us that preaching builds people. Though you may not be a preacher, you can get people under the sound of preaching. That is why you need to be a soul winner. Moreover, soul winning is preaching. So, when you get people out soul winning, you are building their life.

Are you a life builder? Is your focus about building the lives of others? Don't let anything take your focus off of why God left you here, and that is to build the lives of people.