Read: 1Thessalonians 4:1-12

Encourage one another and build each other up. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

你们该彼此劝慰，互相建立。–帖撒罗尼迦前书5章11节

Encourage oneanother daily. Hebrews 3:13

天天彼此相劝。-希伯来书3章13节

Richard needed a push, and he got one. He was rock climbing with his friend Kevin who was the belayer (the one who secures the rope). Exhausted and ready to quit,Richard asked Kevin to lower him to the ground. But Kevin urged him on, saying he had come too far to quit. Dangling in midair, Richard decided to keep trying. Amazingly, he was able to reconnect with the rock and complete the climb because of his friend’s encouragement.

理查需要人推他一把，而他也得到了这股推动力！那时，他正和朋友凯文一同攀岩，并由凯文控制绳索。当理查精疲力尽，准备要放弃时，他请凯文让他垂降到地面。但凯文鼓励他继续往上爬，说他已经爬得很高，不该放弃。于是悬在半空中的理查，决定继续尝试。很奇妙地，因为朋友的鼓励，他竟然能再次使劲继续攀岩，成功地爬到顶端。

In the early church, followers of Jesus encouraged one another to continue to follow their Lord and to show compassion. In a culture riddled with immorality,they passionately appealed to one another to live pure lives (Rom. 12:1; 1Thess. 4:1). Believers encouraged one another daily, as God prompted them to doso (Acts 13:15). They urged each other to intercede for the body (Rom. 15:30),to help people stay connected to the church (Heb. 10:25), and to love more and more (1 Thess. 4:10).

在初期教会，耶稣的门徒彼此劝慰，要继续地跟随主并且体现怜悯。在当时道德败坏的社会文化中，门徒热切地相互激励要过圣洁的生活（罗马书12章1节；帖撒罗尼迦前书4章1节）。门徒也日日彼此劝勉，因为上帝督促他们应当如此行（使徒行传13章15节）。同时，门徒也相互提醒要为肢体祈祷（罗马书15章30节），要帮助人们不停止聚会（希伯来书10章25节），并且要越发地彼此相爱（帖撒罗尼迦前书4章10节）。

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus has connected us to one another. Therefore,we have the responsibility and privilege with God’senablement to encourage fellow believers to finish the climb of trusting and obeying Him.

耶稣藉着祂的死和复活，让我们成为主内弟兄姐妹。因此，靠着上帝给我们的能力，我们当鼓励众信徒信靠顺服祂，坚持到底，这是我们的责任，更是我们的殊荣。

Prayer 祷告：

When was the last time you neededto urge someone to keep following Jesus? Who has encouraged you or stirred you to pursue holiness, to keep praying, or to enlarge your love for Jesus and others?

你最近曾激励人继续跟随耶稣吗？有谁曾经鼓励你，激发你追求圣洁，常常祷告，并让你更爱耶稣和爱人呢？

Read: 1Thessalonians 4:1-12

Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more.For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you,so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 

整理：于姊妹