It’s a lot easier to tear down than to build up. I’m reminded of that every year after Christmas. The Christmas lights outside that took me two hours to put up came down in fifteen minutes. All the decorations that took days to set out in just the right places were packed away in boxes in just an afternoon. It’s a lot easier to tear down than to build up.
Unfortunately, that’s true in life too, isn’t it? A relationship that’s taken years to build can be destroyed in just one argument. A career that’s taken decades to build can be destroyed in one meeting. A reputation that taken a lifetime to build can be destroyed by one foolish decision. In just about everything, it’s a lot easier to tear down than to build up.
So do you know what Jesus came to do? Bind up the brokenhearted. Comfort the weary and burdened. Seek and save the lost. Die for sin so we can be forgiven. When everyone else seems to tear you down, come to Jesus. He knows how to build you up when you’re torn down.
And he equips you to do the same for others. The Bible encourages us, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Chances are, everyone you meet today is being torn down by someone or something. That’s the easy part—tearing down. Know what you can do? Build each other up. Whom can you encourage? Whom can you smile at? Whom can you listen to? Whom can you be patient with? It’s a lot easier to tear down than to build up, but we have a Savior who specializes in building up those who are torn down. So build each other up.
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