As believers in Christ, as his children, as members of God's family, we ought to love one another. That's my prevailing thought after reading this chapter. Paul talks about his desire to be reunited with the church in Thessalonica to encourage them and also to "know their faith." His eagerness to see them was also driven by the fact that he knew how difficult this Christian walk would be. One lesson we should take from Paul is what he says here in verse 4, "for, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation..." When we share to gospel with people, we ought to let them in on this although it's not appealing. If we don't, and we only paint the rosy picture of you and Christ skipping and picking lilies for the rest of your life, we don't give the whole truth and we set people up for disappointment. The Thessalonians faith endured in spite of affliction because, as verse 3 states, they knew they were appointed for this.
Another lesson we can take is that we ought to check in on each other every once in a while, as it concerns our faith. In our conversations with other believers, we ought to sometimes let our conversations go beyond the surface level stuff and find out how our brothers & sisters walk is going. It can be, as it was for Paul, an encouragement to know that other believers are enduring and remaining faithful. But it also might be an occasion for you to encourage someone to do better, be more faithful. On the flip side, it could also be a time for you to reflect on how faithful your own walk is. When we don't discuss these things and assume everything is alright, we cheat ourselves of an opportunity to grow. So today, that' my goal - to get all up in somebody's business and see how their spiritual walk is going. Maybe I'll encourage them, maybe they'll point me in the right direction. Either way, the body will be edified and Satan won't be happy.
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