Together we've gone through
the first three chapters of 1 Thessalonians, written by Paul. We
talked about what the faith of a Thessalonian looks like, about
giving your whole heart in all you do, about thinking before
speaking, and about Satan's role in our lives. Today, we are going to
dive into chapter four where Paul shifts gears to remind the
Thessalonians how to live the Christian life well. And while some of
it might not totally apply to today's world (we don't have pagan
churches on every corner offering prostitution as a great worship
option, for example, but we do still have prostitution in our world),
we can absolutely benefit from studying it together two thousand
years after it was originally written.
His advice can be broken
down into five different thoughts, all related to the Christian life.
Let's take a look.
1. Stick close to Jesus
"One final word,
friends. We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing
what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod,
but in a living, spirited dance. You know the guidelines we laid out
for you from the Master Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2)
Remember that there is a
difference between doing everything you do in life because it's a
"rule" that you have to follow from the Bible and doing it
because you love Jesus. Paul is reminding us here that our motivation
in life should not simply be the rule book. Our motivation should
come straight from Jesus himself. Develop that amazing relationship
with him so that you desire to do good because you love him. It's
much easier to choose the right thing when you are bathing in the
light of Jesus every day. Darkness cannot exist where light lives.
The two don't go together.
2. Save sex for marriage
"God wants you to live
a pure life.
Keep yourselves from sexual
promiscuity.
Learn to appreciate and give
dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who
know nothing of God." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)
This is one of those things
that is a reference to life as the Thessalonians knew it. Part of the
pagan worship practices included things like participating in sex as
an offering and giving parts of yourself (blood, etc) as an offering.
I also remember reading that some groups also sacrificed actual
living babies. Horrible. Paul wants them to steer clear of this
stuff. It's not honoring to God and he isn't pleased by it.
As odd as it sounds, we can
still learn something from these verses. Sex outside of marriage is
completely commonplace these days. Everyone does it, right? So why
not? Except everyone doesn't do it. Satan wants us to believe that so
that we participate in it too. And nothing good comes from premarital
sex. Women are developing an emotional bond with a man that isn't
their spouse yet. They are letting things slide that they wouldn't
put up with because of that bond. And when they break up in the
future, they are ripped apart. Pieces of each person in that
relationship are forever damaged. *
And besides that, premarital
sex can never be what married sex is. Married sex is like authentic
Mexican tacos made by an actual Mexican woman who learned from her
mother growing up. They are amazing. They cannot be compared to any
other taco in all the world. They will ruin you for all future tacos
that you ever eat because they are that good. Premarital sex is like
going to Taco Bell. There is something strange in it that you can't
identify. Everyone's been there- Taco Bell isn't loyal to you at all.
The shell is stale, the meat is old, and the seasoning is so salty
that you can taste nothing else. It's just not good.
3. God cares about all of
your worries so hand them over to him and trust him to deal with them
all
"Don’t run roughshod
over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are
God’s concerns, and he will take care of them. We’ve warned you
about this before. God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt
life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the
inside as the outside.
If you disregard this
advice, you’re not offending your neighbors; you’re rejecting
God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit." (1
Thessalonians 4: 6-8)
From here, Paul transitions
into the reminder that God gave us these rules for our own good. He
has shown us the good life to help us live a great one. And he
offered up his Holy Spirit to guide us. Ignoring all the warnings and
doing life any way you please is disregarding that gift. By rejecting
the advice Paul gave, he is saying that you are also rejecting God.
Additionally, he is
reminding us to stop living a life full of worry. God cares about all
of it. He's got it. He's taking care of us. Have faith that he will
do right by us. Let go of the worry. Leave it at God's feet so that
he can take care of it.
4. Love each other
"Regarding life
together and getting along with each other, you don’t need me to
tell you what to do. You’re God-taught in these matters. Just love
one another! You’re already good at it; your friends all over the
province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and
better at it." (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10)
Paul says this over and over
again throughout the New Testament. God told us about it in the Old
Testament. Jesus touched on this and demonstrated it repeatedly
throughout the gospels where his life was recorded for us. Love each
other. The end. Just love each other. Don't keep track of who did
what to whom. Don't hold grudges. Just love each other. Actively and
emotionally.
Jesus said that this one was
tied for first place as the greatest commandment in Matthew:
"Jesus replied, '"You
must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and
all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. A
second is equally important: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these
two commandments.'" (Matthew 22:37-40)
If Jesus put that much
importance on the idea of loving each other, you better believe it's
important. That's why Paul's bringing it up here. It's a vital part
of living the Christian life well.
5. Be a good example for
others to follow
"Stay
calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all
this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living
in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around
sponging off your friends." (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)
There's
not a lot to say about this one. It's pretty simple. Make good
choices. Your choices affect others, not just you- whether you like
it or not. You are a walking example of Jesus as a follower of
Christ, so make sure you think before you speak and before you act.
The world is watching. How will we portray Christ to those around us?
How can we be Jesus to those in our lives?
I'm
going to wrap this up because I have taken absolutely forever to
finish it and get it posted. Sorry. Be blessed today and remember to
be a blessing!
* Watch Mark Gungor's Tale
of Two Brains for more information on these thoughts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=814eR5K7KD8
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