God designed and willed for the Christian home and the local body of believers to function as two of the closest experiences to heaven on this side of eternity. As believers, we ought to love one another (John 13:34-35) and serve one another by that love (Galatians 5:13). Rather than backbiting and devouring each other (Galatians 5:15), believers ought to give themselves to ministering to each other. In Paul’s epistle to the Corinthian believers, God led Paul to mention a family addicted to the ministry. At some point, this family decided to sacrifice their own gain for the sake of ministering to others. Because of this commitment, the Bible says that Stephanas refreshed the spirit of other believers.
The Bible describes the last days of the church age as perilous times overwhelmed by excess of sin. However, dedicated Christians living within God’s will desire righteousness to reign. No matter, sins such as pride, blasphemy, despising the good, and loving pleasures more than God prevail during the last days. Believers are admonished not to get caught up in them and forewarned to turn away from these activities. These areas are all recognized as problems increasingly prevalent in today's societies, but sometimes “we miss the forest for the trees.” We recognize these obvious sins as severe and sore displeasing to the Lord; but in their midst, the Lord also mentions unthankfulness. This is another of the identifying marks of the end times. People have grown increasingly unthankful. Unfortunately, these earmarks are not limited to the world but have also infiltrated the church.
