SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, VIRGIN (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

We give thanks to God always for all of you.

Have you noticed how easy it is to be critical? Whether at school, the workplace, or even at home, it seems so much easier to correct than to affirm someone.

Is this how God would speak to us? Paul didn’t think so. Look at the first two chapters of this letter to the believers in Thessalonica; he does nothing but congratulate, praise, and affirm them for their faith! Or just look at his words of greeting at the very start: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, remembering you in our prayers, unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).

Now, Paul wasn’t working under any illusions. He knew that the Christians in Thessalonica weren’t perfect. In fact, as his letter progressed, Paul challenged them on matters of immorality and anger, and in his final words warned them not to be idle nor quench the Spirit. There was sin within the Thessalonian church, but Paul didn’t begin by focusing on it. Looking for ways to encourage them first, he focused instead on the evidence of God’s grace. Surely Paul saw their need for growth, but he was also aware that their growth would come from God. Paul’s main task was to help them keep their gaze turned toward their Savior so that the Spirit could continue to form them and transform them.

We are not all that different from our Thessalonian brothers and sisters. God wants to encourage us and remind us that he is at work in us. And when we become aware of our sin and our need to change, he asks us to turn our gaze to the cross and confess our need for his grace to become more like Christ.

Right now, today, God is drawing you to his side. So answer his call and run to him, the one who loves you unconditionally. Tell him that you need him, and ask him to help you on your way to heaven. He has begun something marvelous in you, and he is committed to bringing it to completion!

“Thank you, Father, for your love for me. May my awareness of this love increase my hunger and thirst for you.”

Psalm 149:1-6, 9
Matthew 23:13-22
1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8-10

WORD AMONG US