Be At Peace

 

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:13b-18 (ESV)

Be at peace among yourselves. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. ¹⁵ See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray without ceasing, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Devotion:

            In writing these words, the Apostle Paul was aware of the condition of the church at Thessalonica. His first statement, “Be at peace among yourselves,” speaks to the condition of the human heart. There was no doubt about this first-century church's full range of human emotions and conditions. Jealousy, envy, laziness, anger, bitterness, all of the destructive emotions are unfortunately just as common among the people of God as they are shared among the non-believing public.

            This is why Paul encourages believers then and now to live out their lives according to Christ-like principles. Unfortunately, the church today is just as aggressive and disagreeable as those Thessalonians Paul dealt with in the 1^st century. I recently wrote a blog post that has garnered over 150K views. (You can find it at lovingjesusstyle.blogspot.com. Search for welcoming the unwelcome.) In the comments, it is incredible the things Christian people come up with to criticize. I am not talking about the non-believers. They can say whatever they want. I have thick skin.

            I know that both Jesus and Paul were heavily criticized by their co-religionists, so I should not be shocked by the reaction to my little blog post. In the rest of today’s scripture, Paul gives us an alternative to complaining and moaning about what our Christian neighbor does. Paul uses such verbs as urge, admonish, encourage, help, be patient, etc. Words designed to build up our fellow believers, not tear them down. As someone once said, tearing something (or someone) down is easy; the rebuilding is the struggle.

            So, let us put aside our differences and learn to live at peace with one another. If we always rejoice and pray without ceasing, giving thanks no matter what happens, we will have no time left to tear one another down. Behaving in this way would provide unbelievers with an example to look up to instead of a mess to be looked down upon; from God’s point of view, we are already the redeemed and spotless bride adorned for her groom, Jesus Christ. Let us pray that God would make us look more like that spotless bride in reality.

Prayer:

            Lord, you know the pitiful condition the church finds itself in these days. Wash us in the power of the Holy Spirit and make us clean. In the words of the psalmist King David, “create in me a clean heart O God and renew a right spirit within me.” Be with us each moment of each day, guiding us into the things that make for peace in the church and the world. Let us rejoice and pray without ceasing that we may be salt and light in this dark and bitter world. Amen.