Scripture to Read: 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6
As we continue our walk through 1 Thessalonians 2, and as God is teaching us, we need to examine our lives and motives as we serve our Lord each day by serving others. God led Paul to let the Thessalonian Christians know that what he, Silvanus, and Timothy shared with them (the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ) was NOT to try and take advantage of them in any way. God also led Paul to tell the Thessalonians that he, Silvanus, and Timothy did not come to seek financial assistance from them, nor to try and impress them as apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians, we need to guard our hearts at all times when we are with each other, as believers, and when we’re with non-believers. We must always serve others with an attitude of thinking of others first and not ourselves. As God speaks to our hearts today in 1 Thessalonians 2:5-6, we learn that our motives in serving should always be pure and that we should never take advantage of the people we’re around. Some of us have positions of authority and if we’re not careful, we’ll fall into the trap of thinking too highly of ourselves because of our position. The reality for us all is that God has called us to serve and love Him and to serve and love others. Our motives should always be to glorify our Heavenly Father and to point others to Him. We have a great privilege to be used by our Lord, so serve Him well.
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you today about serving and loving Him and others?
2. Who will you serve this week so that you have an opportunity to share Christ with them?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!