Full of Faith

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS

FULL OF FAITH

1 Thess 3:6-10

6 But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. 7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. 8 For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? 10 Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

NIV

Certainly, there are some personal comments from Paul to this church that may not have any bearing on our lives. However, perhaps we can apply some of the same types of feelings Paul is expressing because of the faith of others. There is a sense of this longing to see each other that may not be as inherent in our personality. We have to ask ourselves if we long to see anyone at all. It is certainly nice to see certain people, but we cannot be sure we actually have a longing to see them. Maybe that is a character or personality flaw within us. Maybe we should have this longing as well as be encouraged because of the faith someone we may have had a hand in their accepting Jesus. Do we remember them, and think about them from time to time, but we do lack that sense of longing to see them again. On the other hand, we could apply this to ourselves in the sense that someone had a hand in our accepting Jesus and it is us who are standing firm in the Lord. We do not know if we have encouraged anyone because of our faith. We do not know if anyone is experiencing joy in the presence of the Lord because of us. However, we can say that when we think about those who we share the gospel with and they accepting Jesus, it does bring us a sense of joy, because God saw fit to use us as the vessel to draw them unto himself. There is something a bit odd in what Paul is saying here. First, he says that in all his distress and persecution he is encouraged because of their faith. Then, he says that he prays all the time that he might see them again so to supply what is lacking in their faith. Which is it? Is their faith and encouragement to him, or does he want to see them again to strengthen their faith, because their faith is lacking something? Surely we might apply that in our daily walk in the community of faith. We should live our faith, so as to be an encouragement to others. If we walk lacking in faith, or our faith is weak, then it would make sense we would not be much of an encouragement to anyone who may be struggling in their faith. This faith may not be about salvation, for we have to believe all who confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior have the faith for their salvation. There is no other way but by faith. No one can do any amount of good works to gain salvation. So any faith that may be lacking would have to do with our daily walk in life. So then, we should be an encouragement to this type of faith, for some may be lacking the faith in their daily lives. It would make sense that if we were encouraging others, our faith should be strong in the Lord. Certainly, Paul’s faith is an example of how our faith should be living out in us. So let us live full of faith in all the areas of our life, being encouraged by others and encouraging to others.