Hebrews 12:15 (NLT)
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.
There are two very important aspects to this passage. The first is this:
Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God.
If you looked, you’d find a ton of commentary on this verse and rightfully so. However, because this is a short devotion and you don’t have all day, I want to keep it simple. Simply put, we must love each other. We have to look past each other’s faults and love each other just like Jesus loves us. This is hard to do at times but God gives us clues in His Word as to how this can be done. One clue is in this verse.
Because we love each other, we watch out for each other. When we take ourselves out of the equation and we begin to open our eyes to the pain around us, we can’t help but reach out. It is absolutely imperative that, as Christ-followers, we are completely invested in not only our own walk with the Lord but also the walks of those around us. We have to be mindful of the spiritual lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. When a friend is struggling with their faith, we should be the first ones there to comfort and guide them. When a friend has a relapse from an addiction, we should be the first ones there to comfort them and pick them back up.
Remember that our purpose is never to judge or condemn a person. We don’t have that right. What we can do is love them and show them the love of Jesus. That’s not only what we should do; it’s what we’ve been commanded to do.
We’ll look at the second aspect of this verse tomorrow.
