Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Good Advice


I read this verse Monday morning and it really stuck with me.  Paul is closing his first letter to the Thessalonians with this stellar advice. 

Be at peace among yourselves - Paul is talking about fellow believers here.  Believers should be at peace with one another.  We have one HUGE thing in common - our believe in GOD.  But there are lots of different things that we disagree about.  That's why we have different denominations.  When the non-believing world sees us arguing about these things that sends a message.  This doesn't mean that we shouldn't talk about our differences but we should disagree agreeably.  You can talk about disagreements and show love to that person at the same time.  Let's practice that! 

Admonish the idle - Paul was talking about those who refuse to work.  It made me think about people who are, by choice, empty headed. They fill their minds with crap.  As computers taught me years ago - garbage in = garbage out.  Most empty headed people don't have lots of interesting things to say they resort to gossip.  Of course, it's not very nice to tell someone they are empty headed (see above) but you can refuse to engage in their empty headed talk. 

Encourage the fainthearted; help the weak; be patient with them all - These all go together for me.  I try to be an encourager and a helper to everyone.  Patience is harder.  It's super easy to encourage and help someone the first time they need it.  It's harder the 4th or 5th time they need help for the same issue, patience wears thin.  At least that's how I feel when I have to keep asking for help for the same issue.  I assume the person is thinking "why can't she get it together?" Here I have to remind myself that GOD doesn't lose patience with me when I keep screwing up on the same things.  Because I've been afforded that grace, I should work to extend that grace to others.

What do you think about this verse?  What does it bring up for you?

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