Somebody had asked me, “how long and how much am I supposed to ‘deal with’ another person’s weakness and shortcomings?” That is to simply ask, at what point does the cost of ignoring a problem (character flaw and/or weakness) outweigh the consequences of a potentially explosive action by which a relationship can be rocked into oblivion? Therefore we look at Romans 15:1 where it reads, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.” And again, we are begged to asked the question, “for how long and what are the limitations?” It is clear from this passage alone that there are no limitations and the length of time is indefinite. Yet, what we find here from a simply literary analysis of this letter from the Apostle Paul is that there is a fundamental, underlying reason by which we are called to “deal with” other people’s shortcomings and weaknesses indefinitely: because “Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (v 7). We deal with other people not to please ourselves, in that, other people’s blatant shortcomings would cease to annoy and frustrate us, because Jesus could surely have been frustrated with us, and we would even admit to the fact that we are indeed frustrating people; but in working with these people we may find God’s mercy pouring upon their lives and into our lives for the truth, mind and voice of God that radically redefines our lives towards God. Allow me to explain that to you in simple terms: if we don’t deal with them, then it’s our fault that they (other people around us who we are peeved and annoyed by) are still that way and will continue to live that way. There is a supernatural imperative for us to constantly engage with people we don’t want to engage with because it is evidently clear that nobody else wants to deal with them either. If we must indefinitely deal with other people and their apparent and not so apparent shortcomings for the rest of our lives then we ask, “how do we deal with them?” Rather, is there a way to work with people without being frustrated by a person’s inability to modify their own behavior? Paul says in verse five that we should just pray to God and ask for “endurance and encouragement” — obviously because we need it to deal with them the rest of our lives. The answer again is simple. We deal with them “hopefully” believing that we are helping them build themselves up for something good. The people receiving this “deal” should be made aware of it, knowing that you are dealing with them because you want something better for their lives. Our intention must be towards helping these people reach a new plane where they are accepted and brought closer to God. We do this because Jesus accepts us in our shortcomings (our sins and stupidity) and brings us encouragement and endurance to move closer towards our Heavenly Father with mercy and grace. When we deal with people in a way that is not self-motivated; but other motivated, we will find ourselves pleased with our efforts and the people on the receiving end will graciously embrace our methods of building them up. As believers of Christ’s salvific work in our lives we are considered strong. It is our obligation to mind each other and bear with people’s failings and weaknesses. We don’t do this for people who don’t want it because that’s just plain annoying. We do this out of love and in reciprocation of God’s love for us. We do this to make other people better. So in dealing with other people’s weaknesses and failings, we do so in love, letting them know our intent is to make them better and build them up. In doing so, there is safety and hope for a stronger relationship. More importantly, God will be glorified by the miracle of a person’s transformation. Hope will fill you and you will be at peace and filled with joy because you no longer have to “deal” but you have extended God’s promise into their lives which was unavailable to them before. This is how Christ dealt with us and this is how we need to deal with others.