Build Up

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. Romans 15:1-2

Build up 

vs

Put up with

You know the difference. You “put up with” and roll your eyes. You “put up with” but tell someone else how immature that person is. You “put up with” but you’d rather they not be part of your thing. 

But Paul said, “build them up.” That’s something else altogether. 

In the middle of verses about letting people be weaker than you (see Romans 14 and 15), Paul doesn’t say “put up with them.” He says “build them up.” 

After you’ve been generous and non-judgmental, figure out what will build them up and help them take their next step. Not your next step…but their next step.

Have confidence that God’s Spirit can lead, guide, fill in the gaps in that relationship and generously building up is more Jesus-like than whatever articulate doctrinal position you might be tempted to articulate.