¹⁴We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

As the apostle Paul moves to concluding his letter, he quickly gives the recipients a list of things for their attention. In keeping with the tenor of the rest of his communication with them, these are things they are probably already doing, but by way of reminder he emphasizes to continue doing them. Again, these are not just pleasant things to consider, but he “urges” them on to excellence (see 1 Thess. 4:10). The Christian life is never about attaining a minimum level of maturity and then coasting. Paul was calling them to a standard he was reaching for himself, as he wrote to the nearby Philippians:

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14)

He used the same word to convey the same urgency to the Roman believers:

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Rom. 12:1)

The list is concise and to the point, not needing much expansion: 1) admonish the unruly. Communities of believers tend toward disorder without a deliberate effort to draw the disorderly and self-centered back to a lifestyle of mutual encouragement rather than being disruptive. Sometimes this requires terse discipline. The fainthearted (or discouraged), on the other hand, need gentle encouragement, or as some translations put it, consoling. Those physically weak due to illness or other reasons must be helped. The original Greek word implies devotion to assisting the weak individual, not just a casual one-time help. How often do Christians reach out to a person when they come down with a chronic illness or injury, but then, after a few words or get-well cards, forget them despite the illness continuing?

Christians above all need to be patient with one another and with everyone else. Indeed, we can admonish, encourage, and help for short periods, but we also need to continue in this way of interacting with others. Life and its challenges go on, and people don’t always respond to our influence immediately, so we must continue on with our Christ-like encouragement of one another. Fellowship is not a sporadic thing that we turn on and turn off; instead, it is to become a lifestyle of Christlikeness. And we must always press on.

Lord, help me to grow in patient Christlikeness in my fellowship with others.