Patience

 Meditations on 1 Thessalonians

June 22, 2021

Patience

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.

1 Thessalonians 4:11

Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12

In this passage, Paul urged the church to practice a generous lifestyle, sharing abundantly with those in need, while maintaining a quiet life. These were the hallmarks of the first century Christian communities. When challenged about their ideas, Christians pointed to their actions. They believed that their lifestyle, their embodied behavior, was eloquent. Their behavior said what they believed; it was an enactment of their message. The ancient theologian Origen called this lifestyle God’s “invisible power.” “Beloved brethren,” he wrote, “[we] are philosophers not in words, but in deeds; we exhibit our wisdom not by our dress, but by truth; we know virtues by their practice rather than through boasting of them; we do not speak great things, but we live them.”

Many churches today urge their members to tithe, or give ten percent of their income to the church. While there is some basis for this in the Bible, the first century church practiced extravagant hospitality in their lifestyle and in their giving.

My Takeaway: Another hallmark of our heritage from the first Christians is their patience. They believed that patience brings to Christians the life of the Beatitudes and the life of love that Paul celebrates in 1 Corinthians 13. They celebrated a patience which was rooted in God’s character: God is patient, is working inexorably across the centuries to accomplish his mission, and in the fullness of time has disclosed himself in Jesus Christ. I would do well to embody this Godly patience in my life. How about you?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.