Admonish With Tears

Acts‬ ‭20‬:‭31,‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

The word admonish means “to place the mind”—so it appeals to logic and involves reasoning or teaching. It also carries with it a sense of urgency and passion, which is why it is sometimes translated “exhort” or “warn.”

So in the verse above, Paul was passionately teaching and warning them day and night for three years—and he was doing it “with tears.” Paul’s passion stemmed from a depth of love which revealed itself through emotion, and we see this all throughout his letters to the churches of the New Testament. For example, in 2 Corinthians 2:4, he wrote, 

“For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.”

Paul’s tears in these passages flow out of a heart full of love for God and love for His people—and his passionate pleas emanate out of that posture of his heart. 

And ours should do the same. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” So to put it simply, admonishing without love is un-Christlike. 

It’s also futile.

Paul understood this so deeply. He’s the one who wrote, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”  

If we speak (or type a social media post) without love, then we’re just noisy and painful to the hearer—and we accomplish nothing.

Love has to be the heart behind our passion, and it has to be evident within everything we do or say on earth if we want it to be effective. 

Oh Lord, please help us. Fill our hearts with love for You and love for Your people, just like Jesus instructed. Amen.