Every once in a while a passage just sticks with me. I will keep returning to it and finally I will dive a little deeper into what has grabbed my attention. Well this is true for a couple of verses in 1 Thessalonians. In this letter to the Thessalonians Paul addresses the return of Christ, but also encourages believers to a life of Holy Living.
Drilling this down just a little more, Paul encourages brotherly love. Verses 4:9-10 are the ones that keeping coming to mind.
9Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.
Can you see the encouragement? Can you see the plea? As believers do we ( I ) love our brothers? As Christians do we ( I ) love enough? Can you see the reminder to do so more and more?
Hendriksen in his commentary on this passage says this; “Perfection had not yet been reached. This admonition is always timely, for in this life no Christian ever reaches the ideal of ethical perfection.”
Maybe that is the encouragement for me; a reminder that perfection is not reached but there should be a continual striving to become more like Christ. Not because we can earn anything, but out of loving gratitude. So when I get a little complacent, even a little pleased with myself, maybe just maybe I need a reminder of just how much Christ did for me, for each of us and as such I should do so more and more; humbly with a loving heart. All we are talking about here is sharing Christian love with a world so desperate for this love.
So there’s the challenge for us all; to go out and share some Christian love with our brothers, our neighbors, even our enemies and to do so more and more. Wow.
Oh how I love God’s Word. It is truly living, inexhaustible and life changing. May we all go do so more and more! Amen
Grace and Peace!
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