Matthew 26:40 English Standard Version (ESV) And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?”

This was not a guilt trip. This was a statement of fact that each and every one of us can learn from.

What do we do for hours on end in mindless pursuit of entertainment?

That is a guilt trip.

Many of us spend more time on other things than we do in reading our bibles. It takes discipline to get up early and make room for bible study every day. That is why they call us disciples. That was a guilt trip.

Anything said that insinuates that we do something better than someone else is a guilt trip. That is not the way to encourage others to have a better relationship with God. The root of the guilt trip is a personal understanding of our own failures and projecting them onto others. Few of us know another person’s personal approach to this relationship we all have with God.

We do what we do because we love it. That is the basis of any relationship. It has to be personal and it needs to be real. If we are fooling ourselves, it does no one any good. If we are being honest with ourselves what others say to guilt trip us will have no adverse effect. Truth always wins over lies.

We will comment from time to time about behaviors which have infected our own souls. If our confessions help others, praise God. Most of those confessions may take on a tone of a guilt trip but it is not meant to be that way.

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Do you need chapter and verse to know this is the Word of the Lord?

That was a guilt trip.

Acts 18:26 English Standard Version (ESV) He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

We are blessed to live in a time when we have all of the New Testament to read. If we were to live in the 1^st century church we might have to wait years for the next letter to be written by Paul and distributed throughout the region. That comment was not meant to persuade anyone away from reading the Old Testament. Please do not assume that position.

What is important is that during Paul’s imprisonment his epistles to the churches formed a series of exhortations on how the body of Christ should interact with one another. They are the foundation of exhortation in living with each other. Up until the time the bible was canonized Christians had to rely on each other and their personal relationship with God and in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is how Priscilla and Aquila could exhort Apollos.

In this sense exhortation is not admonishment as some would fear but rather to draw them into fellowship with those who have a better understanding of the Way. In Acts 18:3 it is noted that Paul came to live with Priscilla and Aquila because they were all tent makers. They learned the Way more accurately from Paul directly. They had no need for an epistle.

These devotionals and many others published daily are not epistles. They are exhortations of a type in which we share what we know and are led to write by the influence of the Holy Spirit. They are not intended to replace those epistles. Devotional writers encourage the reader to do personal bible reading. These are not meant to replace personal quiet time.

Go, read your bible.