I’ll be honest and tell you that if this was 2015, there would be 15 encouragements. With that disclaimer aside, I wanted to look into one of the most positive and encouraging books of the New Testament to gain some insights on the attitudes and actions that will help Christians make the most of their year. 1 Thessalonians is a letter drenched with love and care from the Apostle Paul. Get your Bible and follow through the chapters of this short but amazing letter that deserves more attention than it gets.
1. Pray For One Another (1:2-3). Prayer is such a great challenge for so many Christians. It’s not the sentence prayers scattered throughout the day that are difficult. It’s that intimate one-on-one time with God, quietly seeking His face. Paul reminds his first readers that he is praying for them and thanking God for them. You have those friends in your life, don’t you? Paul encourages us to pray with thanks, pray continually, and pray specifically. He recalls their faithful work, the love that moves them to labor for Christ, and the endurance they demonstrate. It is not just their presence in his life, it is their discipleship that he notices and by which he is moved. I can’t think of anything more powerful for us to pursue than to pray diligently for one another.
2. Be Good Examples For One Another (1:5b-7). All of the godly people that have had a Kingdom influence in your life have one thing in common: they learned their walk from Christ. We follow the Christ we see in the lives of other believers, imitating their faith, and thus becoming examples for those who are watching us. Sometimes we lecture our young people about being good examples, but that is something we never outgrow.
3. Ring Out The Message (1:8-10). What do people hear from us? Griping and complaining about the church? Not very original. People have been doing that since they walked down dirt roads from Jerusalem in the very early days of the church. What people need to hear from us in our church, in our circle of friends, in our city, in our nation and world is the message of the Gospel. Let the Lord’s message ring out from you, not only in words about Jesus, but in testimonies of lives changed by Jesus.
4. Please God Above All (2:4-6). Our goal in this life is not to please everyone we meet. We will do all we can to reach out to become all things to all men but our singular goal is to please God. He is the witness of our lives, and we serve each day under his graceful gaze.
5. Share Your Life With Other Christians (2:7-8). I love the compassion and love demonstrated here. The compassionate care, love, sharing of lives. This is what the community of faith is all about. Never in the wildest dreams of Jesus did He ever envision a version of Christianity that was a one-hour weekly appointment. These new lives we have in Christ are made to connect with others. Our spiritual genetics draw us to one another so that we can work together.
6. Urge Others to Live For God (2:10-12). All children need fathers who are involved and care. That is no less true in our faith family. We need people who care enough to urge us to do what is right, who call us on our failures, who stick by us in our struggles. We need to call one another to live the worthy life – a life that lifts up God as our ultimate Father.
7. Receive God’s Word (2:13-15). Just as we often struggle with prayer, we often fail to find time to invest in the study of God’s Word. It’s not just a good habit, it is a vital pursuit. The reason why is because this is God’s Word. How many of us have spent more time looking for a Bible with a cover that we like, print we can read, and features we felt we needed – only to have it looking brand new and untouched six months later? When we receive God’s Word into our heart it is a catalyst of spiritual work that God desires to do in our hearts.
8. Endure Difficult Days Together (3:3-6). Trouble is on the horizon for all of us. No matter how prepared we think we are, there are some events that cut us to the core. The loss of a loved one, betrayal of a friend, losing a job we love…there are so many potential troubles ahead. We need to know that we have brothers and sisters who are going to walk with us through those days. Paul was afraid that maybe the faith of the Thessalonians believers might be in jeopardy due to the intensity of persecution. Timothy brought him a good word, though. These Christians were walking through these tough times together.
9. Let Love Overflow (3:12). Let’s get over being ‘visitor friendly’ and start letting the love of Christ overflow when we gather. We learn how to love by listening to God – His love informs our love for others.
10. Let God Strengthen Your Hearts (3:13). When we allow God to strengthen our hearts, we are moved toward holiness. Growing in an awareness of our sin and His presence gives us a new perspective on the coming of Jesus Christ!
11. Grow in Sanctification (4:3-8). In particular, we grow in the area of controlling our bodies sexually. In today’s world, unfiltered sexual fulfillment is a right, something that is essential to the happiness of individuals. However, it can be observed that this kind of living without restraint brings far more pain than it does happiness When we reject the teaching of Scripture about sexuality, we truly reject God. Instead of falling into sexual traps, seek to live a live by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit! (Read more about what the Bible says about sex and how God made it for our enjoyment)
12. Live as people of Hope (4:13-18). Jesus is our hope now. But there’s more. He is our hope when life is so hard, when pain is more than we can bear, when each day is a hardship – look ahead. Jesus is coming. He will set all things right. We are a people who are listening for a trumpet. We ought to live like it!
And now for the final encouragement. Honestly, I cheated. I threw a bunch of them into one sentence! I don’t feel bad about that, though, because as he nears the end of his letter Apostle Paul sends out blast of encouragements.
13. Be peaceful, patient, joyful, thankful, blameless (5:12-24). These are the qualities that draw people together. In some ways this is a summary of what has been said before. It is a picture of the sanctified life, and it is empowered by God. You’re not doing this on your own steam. In fact, you can’t. You can be a nice law-abiding citizen without God’s help. But you can’t be a sanctified, saved, and strong Christian without God’s Spirit living within you.
So Paul closes his letter with a final reminder.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. ~1 Thessalonians 5:28
Next time you need a boost in your spirit, read what the Spirit has prepared for us in 1 Thessalonians. It will help you have a great day…and a great year.
John Dobbs