Passage: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. 10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; 11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; 12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
Main Point: God teaches us to love one another that we might be more like Him and more effective at sharing Him.
· Lesson I find it interesting how so many Christians can be so calloused toward one another and still find it somewhere in their hearts to attend worship services, offering praise and adoration to the compassionate Christ of our Salvation. This just seems so out of place. Verse 9 says that God taught them to love one another. How can calloused Christians be God-taught? It's like saying Picasso taught his student to use dynamite instead of paint brushes!
The Godly, according to verse 10, obey the instruction of the Lord, and love one another, not criticizing one another. They push one another to increase in loving one another. They may need some instruction from believers to love more effectively, but to love and care for one another is truly God's teaching, not man's. There is no favoritism, because this love is toward all believers. There is not a single person who has learned enough, or done enough, or grown enough that they are told to stop learning, doing, or growing. If a believer loves a loving God, cares for a compassionate Christ, and worships a working Savior, then that same love, compassion, and work should be copied and displayed toward others - especially those who also love, care, and worship the Savior!
The growth-challenge here is to grow by study! Students, listen up! Study doesn't stop when the law says it CAN. What should Christians be? Students! They need to study the Word of God. They need to study the ways of God. They need to study people, history, and culture/society. They need to learn to be quiet and do their own business (v. 11) - which means to avoid gossip, arrogant advice-giving, and other intrusions of an ungodly nature into the lives and work of others. They need to work with their own hands - become the best they can at their jobs, fields, careers. This takes discipline, dedication, and determination.
The purpose of this whole thing is so that believers can be able and effective in their relationships with the lost - witnessing to the power of Christ to transform a life, to testify that the person of Jesus Christ is true, faithful, and trustworthy. If we hope the lost will trust Christ, we must not do or become anything that will stand in their way. You've heard many people say they don't go to church because of the hypocrites already there! Such a statement is an indictment on our failure as God's people to love a loving God but be calloused toward others, lazy in our work, and frequently "falling down on the job" by not doing as they said they would do.
Devotional: One of the greatest signs that a person is a believer is that he loves others, especially Christians. (Christians can be hard to love sometimes. But who can't be?) Nevertheless, it is completely contrary to one's profession of faith to be otherwise. If one says he is a Christian, then he says he is "like Christ." Being unloving, uncaring, uncompassionate, unfaithful is very much NOT like Christ. There is ONE who that might describe - Satan. How does your life resemble Christ's? Need work? Don't feel bad - we all do. But don't let the work stop you. Christ died to give you the chance, rose again to enable you, and sent His Holy Spirit to assist you! You can be God-taught to love others. Are you a willing student? You might be used to lead someone to Christ this year because you are.
Holler for Jesus,
Greg Yount
Check out my blogs:
Just-a-Thot - Devotional thoughts - http://justa-thot.blogspot.com
As I See It - Biblical perspectives on current events - http://asiseeit10.blogspot.com
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Pastor Greg