Builders or Destroyers

What should be done then, my friends? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. – 1 Corinthians 14:26 (NRSV)

Paul is talking about worship here, but might he be talking about life too? What do you have to offer? How can you make a difference? Who has built you up? Who have you built up? What should be done then, my friends?

This was sent to me via e-mail:
I watched them tearing a building down, a gang of men in a busy town. With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell, they swung a beam and a sidewall fell. I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled, as the men you’d hire if you had to build?” He gave me a laugh and said, “No indeed! Just common labor is all I need. I can easily wreck in a day or two what builders have taken a year to do.” And I thought to myself as I went my way, which of these two roles have I tried to play? Am I a builder who works with care, Measuring life by the rule and square? Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan, patiently doing the best I can? Or am I a wrecker who walks the town, Content with the labor of tearing down?

It is a question each one of us should ask; are we builders or destroyers? When we tear others down that is easy and quick. Recent studies say that children need to hear ten positive things about themselves to combat the negative psychological effects of every one bad thing they hear. We know this is true. A compliment runs off our backs like water, and a hurtful remark will stick with us for a long time. Therefore we must be in the business of building others up. It is what scripture commands us to do, and God knows it is what the world needs. It might take work, and we might have to put a fight, but it is the good fight!

With hope and joy,
Garrett