These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you. (Titus 2:15)

Encourage and rebuke. These two words may seem like they cannot go together in the same sentence, but indeed they can. As we need encouragement, we also need to be called out when our behavior falls below par, and the best person to illustrate both encouragement and rebuke is none other than Jesus Christ.

Jesus spent his life on earth teaching people about his Father’s kingdom and how to love one another. Nonetheless, the same Jesus who surrounded himself with little children and whose chest was a resting place for a disciple’s head was also known to rebuke those who needed to learn that what they were doing was wrong.

When he entered the temple area in Matthew 21:12–13, Jesus saw that tables were set up to conduct business there. Immediately, he overturned the tables saying, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’” This is a good example of a rebuke done with authority.

We are children of God who are called to live lives that are holy and beyond reproach; we must choose right over wrong and help others to do the same. We must be encouragers of others while teaching them what we have learned from the Lord, as we set ourselves on the path of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Make your light shine so others can see Jesus in you.

Luska Natali is a native of Brazil who is passionate about God, her family, learning new languages (she fluently speaks three), and meeting people.

© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.