But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3 ESV)
While this verse may seem pretty obvious, some times it is just good to have a nice reminder of the faithfulness of the Lord and that he will help guard our hearts from evil when we put up a fight against it. It was just a good reminder for me of his power and faithfulness to us as we fight the temptation of sin.
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (2 Thessalonians 3:6, 10, 12, 15 ESV)
This may seem like a odd bunching verses since I did not grab the whole section, but these were the ones that stuck out to me of good reminders that while we show love to one another, some behaviors need to be dealt with to encourage and help each other grow. Specifically this deals with idleness and unwillingness to carry your own weight, but I do like that it offers direction to command and encourage in the Lord. And with this, we are not to "regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother." I'd say this especially stuck out because correcting someone in love can be a difficult task as to not pass judgement but help them see what God's word says is sinful behavior especially as it applies to situations today.
As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (2 Thessalonians 3:13-15, ESV)
ReplyDeleteThis notion of rebuking a brother in love is very challenging to me. I am not one to pick a fight or stir up division, and I often forget their necessity. Jesus is perfect love. And even though this is often depicted as being soft, that is not always the case. Jesus spoke the truth no matter how offensive it came across, and was very hard on people like the Pharisees who were supposed to be examples to the people, but chose out of selfishness to not submit to God. Thus Jesus had every reason to be very harsh with them, while still being perfect love. When Paul writes to the church, he keeps this in mind and reminds them that once we have seen the truth, we are all the more accountable. We must therefore do whatever is necessary to hold one another accountable, which in the right case can call for tough love. I still find this concept counter-intuitive, and for that reason need to work on it all the more.
This is a very tough line to toe as we must avoid passing judgement but still keep one another accountable (this can be especially difficult when we are trying not to be too quick to point out the sins of others while overlooking our own). I think that Jesus' challenging and correction of the Pharisees are great examples of this. Jesus also often did this by telling parables that both taught and convicted the people. While we are not going to give new parables of our own, I think one of the best things is to possess a good knowledge of scripture so that we can direct others to parts of God's word when we feel like they might be in sin. I think this can also help us know when others and ourselves are falling victim to sin and need correction. This also will allow the word of God to do the convicting in someone's heart rather than our words.
DeleteThese things may seem obvious, but I think it is one of the better ways to deal with these situations (besides prayer too) and discern the most appropriate course of action. These is definitely a very important question to pray about and consider because accountability is a very valuable thing, but it must be done carefully because conviction is often a hard pill to swallow.