Harmony Strong

Arm wrestling reveals the difference in strength between two individuals.  In 2001 our youth group went on a mission trip and one of the traditional evening activities was an arm wrestling contest.  I decided to give it a try just to have some fun and won several of my first round competitions.  My third opponent was a 5’3” 225lb football player who had arms that were about 3 times the size of mine.  As soon as I sat down at the table I started joking with him thinking this was the end of my competition.  To my surprise, when we were told, “go” my arm was not thrown through the table, in fact, I held my own and eventually ended up winning!  In almost every arm wrestling match one person is always stronger and one person is weaker.

This is true of our faith as well!  If we compared any two individuals we would discover that one is stronger in their faith and one is weaker in their faith.  Those who are stronger in their faith have an obligation not to boast and brag, but rather to help those who are weaker become stronger.  How do those who are strong in their faith help those who are weak in their faith become stronger?

READ:  Romans 15:1-6

Harmony strong is the effort to be UNIFIED with others by BUILDING others up!  The word harmony basically means to “think the same thing”.  Paul talks about what it means to be harmony strong in Ephesians 4:11-13 when he says, “He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  According to these verses harmony strong is the collective Christlikeness of believers.  The process of building one another up does not end until we all, strong and weak, are equal in our Christlikeness.  What are some ways we build others up in order to be more unified in Christlikeness?

We build others up by BEARING with their FAILINGS (Romans 15:1) – In order for children to learn certain skills, parents must not be impatient or get frustrated with their weaknesses.  There have been several times I included my children in a building project and quickly gave up on them simply because they were not strong enough to drive a nail with a hammer.  Rather than judge another’s relative weakness, we are told to “bear” with their “failings”.  The word “bear” means to “lift” or to “carry the weight of something”.  The proper way for me to teach my children to drive a nail is to use my strength to hammer a nail with them until they develop their own strength to do it.  Paul said in Galatians 6:1-2, “if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.  Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”.  It is in moments of others’ weakness that we are to use our strength to gently restore and build their faith back up.  We must not be quick to get frustrated with the moral failings of others, remembering that we may need others to bear with us when we have failed!

We build others up by doing what is PLEASING to them (Romans 15:2-3) – Jesus Christ did not use His strength in life for the purpose of pleasing Himself, but rather for the purpose of pleasing others.  Jesus always spoke and did things unselfishly that would give pleasure to others (Phil. 2:3-8).  In order to experience harmony with others we must be willing to speak and do things, “for (their) good” and to, “build (them) up”.  The hardest thing about pleasing others is that it almost always involves a personal sacrifice requiring us to unselfishly give up something we want with the personal happiness of someone else in mind.

CONCLUSION
The word harmony is used to describe the beautiful sound created when a combination of different musical notes are sung or played together at the same time.  Romans 15:6 says we are to harmonize with others until together with, “one voice (we) glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  Harmony strong is beautiful music to God’s ears!  Are you glorifying God by harmonizing together in one voice with others?