READ 1 THESSALONIANS 1:1-10
“This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give you grace and peace. We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.”
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 NLT
Encouragement makes a big difference. Paul had a deep love for the Christians in Thessalonica. He had started the church there a few weeks before he wrote this letter (see Acts 17). He was able to stay in Thessalonica only a few weeks, and so he wrote this letter to give further teaching and encouragement. These Christians had experienced true, living faith – the power of the Holy Spirit, assurance of the truth, God’s joy, and suffering. They went through the hardships with joy and continued working for the Lord. And the whole region had heard about their faith.
This is what it is like to follow Jesus – joy and hardship, power and pain. We get to be loved by God in a special way through His Son. We have an unending hope, knowing Jesus will come again. We are invited to join Jesus and invite others to be part of His work and experience His love and joy. We need to constantly love, forgive, and encourage each other. Encouragement matters!
How can you receive and soak up God’s encouragement for you? Who can you encourage today?
