Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
You will only live a successful Christian life once you start living your life to help others. The Christian life is not about me; it is about living for Christ and others. In fact, you will never succeed in being the Christian you are supposed to be until you stop trying to help and change yourself and start living to help others and bring glory to God through your life.
The verse above says, And let us consider one another. This is the key to living an effective and successful Christian life. The word consider means to take into account. In other words, I am to consider how it affects or provokes others before I do anything. There are two things I must consider if my actions are provoking others to do.
First, I must consider if I am provoking people unto love. This has a twofold meaning. To provoke unto love is to arouse the interest of others to the love of Christ. I am to provoke others to consider that God loves them enough that He sent His Son to die for them so that they could be saved. I am to provoke people to want to be saved. There is only one way I can do this, and that is by telling others how to be saved. You will never provoke others unto love without being a soul winner. Every action I take is to provoke someone to get saved.
The second meaning of provoking unto love is that I am to provoke others to be a soul winner. I will never provoke others to be a soul winner if I am not a soul winner. I don't know anything better that I could provoke someone to do than to care enough for the lost to get them to become a soul winner. My friend, I would rather provoke people to be a soul winner by winning people to Christ than to provoke people to be soul losers by criticizing the soul winner. You are either provoking people to be a soul winner or a soul loser depending on whether you are leading people to Christ. We are commanded to provoke others unto love, and you will never do this without being a soul winner.
Second, I must consider if I am provoking people unto good works. How do we provoke others unto good works? Verse 25 shows us when it says, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. I am to be faithful to church and become involved in the church so I can exhort others. For instance, I am exhorting others by being a bus worker. I am exhorting others by teaching a Sunday school class. I am exhorting others by being involved in church. I am not exhorting people by just sitting in church, but by being involved in church. You will never exhort someone to good works unless you are doing good works. Let me ask, how can I exhort or urge someone to do something that I am not doing? I exhort or urge someone to good works by doing good works. Those good works cannot be done if I am not faithful to my post by being faithful to church.
Now, let me ask you, have you considered if you are provoking others to love and good works? Who have you provoked to be a soul winner? Who have you provoked to get saved? Who have you provoked to get involved in good works? Remember that you cannot provoke to good works if you are not faithful to church. Everything you do should somehow provoke others to love and good works.