You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40 ESV)
This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (John 15:12 ESV)
I love this letter to the Thessalonians. It seemed like this was almost entirely a personal letter. The author (Paul I think) helped plant this church and was checking up on them. He apologized for not being able to be there and explained it. He even explained why they sent Timothy instead of going. I think that this entire book shows us how we should treat anyone we disciple. A disciple relationship should take place for only a short time, after which the disciple should move on to greater purposes. However, the mentor should be willing to go back and check on his mentee. Just because a discipleship relationship is over, does not mean that the bond is not still there. It does not mean that responsibility does not exist anymore. It just means that the nature of the relationship has changed.
ReplyDeleteThis convicts me as a big brother. Dizzle, I should still check up on you and Harris on occasion. Just because I am not your assigned big brother anymore does not mean that I don't have any responsibility, but that we are more equals. Now I should exhort both of you and continue to encourage both of you towards a closer relationship with Christ. Dizzle, you may be getting a call from me this week.
"for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith. For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 3:7-8, ESV
ReplyDeleteI got a very similar message from this chapter. Paul did a great job of planting churches, but I think he does not get enough credit for the attention he gives them to make sure that they're headed in the right direction. Paul clearly spends a lot of time thinking about the churches he helped establish, and is very concerned about how they are doing. This kind of attention is something we should emulate more often. The growth of our brothers is incredibly important, and I believe it can directly influence our own growth. If we are to love like Christ, it should start with our brothers in Christ.
In all of Paul's letters, he really is a great example of how to make disciples. He uses similar language in each one of them, about how he yearns to see them again and how the people of these churches are always in his prayers. Clearly he cares for these people, and he would like to be with them all, but he can't because he is so busy caring for everyone! In creating disciples, Paul is being an imitator of Christ and creating imitators of Christ. His letters can be a great way to model how discipleship really should be!
ReplyDelete"Now may God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones."
ReplyDelete1 Thessalonians 3: 11-13
What an unbelievable thought. The perfection and blamelessness that we strive for is attainable. If we let the Lord strengthen our hears and if we increase in our love for others and for all things, we can achieve holiness because God is Love. and if we are abounding in love, then we are turning ourselves over to Christ and letting him have guidance and direction in our lives.