October 26, 2024
Passage Read: 1 Thessalonians 5 - 2 Thessalonians 1
Meditation Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:14
Thought
This is important enough that Paul didn't just encourage the Thessalonians to do these things, but urged them to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak and be patient with everyone. The unruly need to be rebuked, admonished, to turn them from their evil ways and protect others who might stumble into their same sinful rebelliousness. The fainthearted need encouragement and assurance that suffering for Christ would be richly rewarded, to hold on and not give up. With all the suffering they were enduring, there were surely many who were tempted to give up. The weak were probably weak not just in terms of suffering, scared by it, but weak in faith, perhaps even weak in body. They would need different help according to their particular weakness, especially in the face of such opposition. And all the believers would need to be patient with everyone, both those inside the church and those outside, with the unruly, the timid and the weak among them and the persecutors and uncaring neighbors outside the fellowship. These things needed to be priority in the fellowship, caring for each member according to their individual needs.
Application
The overall goal, Paul states in the next verse, that we should be seeking what is good for one another and for everyone. To seek what is good for each person requires recognizing both the ultimate goal, salvation and sanctification, and their current state. If someone is rebellious, they need correction, if someone is fainthearted, they need encouragement. Each according to their need. That means knowing one another and knowing what is required of one another, what God expects of each one of us. These instructions aren't given just to the leaders, but to all the believers. Caring for one another is my responsibility, to understand and help every member of my church, whether I'm in leadership or not. And I need to help them according to their particular need.