Welfare of the City

We have talked some about the implications of Jeremiah 29:7 for our body. These words to the exiled in Babylon to seek the welfare of the city:

1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. ... 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

And then I was reading these verses from Nehemiah 2:

9 Then I came to the governors of the province Beyond the River and gave them the king's letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. 10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.

Even though Nehemiah had been sent by the king, it displeased some there that "someone had come to seek the welfare of the people."

But we should follow the path of Nehemiah and do whatever God puts in our heart to do for our city for His glory and the welfare of the people.