"Appreciation" Is Not in the Bible

Our theme this month is focused on a term that is not found in the Bible. Go to your Bible app and search various translations for appreciation - you are going to come up pretty short.

Just because a specific word isn't in the Bible doesn't mean the concept isn't there either.

The Bible is full of calls for us to appreciate each other.

In 1 Corinthians 12 there is a call on Christians to appreciate each other's role in the body of Christ.

Paul's letters often open up with him expression various things he appreciates about those who are receiving the letter.

Jesus showed a deep appreciation for various people he encountered, like the woman who anointed Jesus with her tears and hair.

Just because a word isn't in the Bible doesn't mean the concept is missing.

So many people are looking for precision and specificity. They are looking for exact words to grant us authority to do various things. If we aren't careful we will develop magical thinking - where the power is in using the right words rather than in the principles themselves. This is why you will hear someone say a baptism isn't valid because the person doing the baptizing didn't say "for the remission of sins."

The word "trinity" is also not in the Bible although it is a concept that is thoroughly biblical.

We can make too much of the words that are there or neglect things because the words aren't there. We can also go searching for various words to make points the Bible isn't making with them! So let us be careful with the words we use and how we choose to use them and let us not miss perfectly biblical principles just because they don't show up in the concordance or Bible app!