Live in Peace
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (NIV) 12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
Peace—inner calm, tranquility, absence of conflict.
Oh, how I love Paul’s words to the Thessalonians. Everything in these few verses provides us with a blueprint for living with and caring for others. Encourage, help, be patient with, do not pay back wrong but strive to do what is good. I have found that looking for good in others brings out the good in me. When I seek to see people through the eyes of Christ, I do not see their flaws, but I see people loved by God and therefore worthy of my love.
For years, I interpreted verse 18 to mean give thanks in spite of everything. That must be what he meant, right? No, when we are believers, Christ followers, we not only see life differently, we live differently. When we can begin to give thanks for adverse circumstances, then we are engaging in Kingdom living here on this earth.
May we today and every day rejoice always, stay in an attitude of prayer, and give thanks, for this is the will of God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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