Is Your Faith Growing?
2 Thessalonians 1:1-3 Greetings from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church of those in Thessalonica, who are in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God for you always. And that’s what we should do, because you give us good reason to be thankful: Your faith is growing more and more. And the love that every one of you has for each other is also growing.
So, how do you know whether or not your faith in God is growing? Is it slipping backward, is it stagnant, or is it surging forward? What’s the yardstick by which you measure your faith?
The Apostle Paul wrote almost half of the so-called “books” of the New Testament. They come to us by way of “epistles” – letters, either to the churches he’d planted or to those he wanted to visit.
As such, they invariably begin with a warm, personal greeting like this one, his second letter to the church in Thessalonica, located in the north of modern-day Greece.
2 Thessalonians 1:1-3 Greetings from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. To the church of those in Thessalonica, who are in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank God for you always. And that’s what we should do, because you give us good reason to be thankful: Your faith is growing more and more. And the love that every one of you has for each other is also growing.
It’s easy to skim over these greetings, but we do so at our peril because they often contain powerful truths; like this one, where Paul links the growth of their faith to the growth of their love for one another.
Loving those pesky people around us can often be an incredibly tough gig. But the more we learn to love them – in our attitudes, with our words and in how we treat them – the more we’re demonstrating the depth of our faith in Jesus.
Love. That’s the yardstick, that’s the measure of our faith.
And that’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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