Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
Why should we love one another? According to Scripture, there are a lot of reasons. Here, Paul explains that our increase in love will have a result: the establishment of our hearts as blameless in holiness before God.*
Paul goes on later to explain how we may define “holiness,” but it’s important here to understand that fundamentally, blamelessness and holiness relate to high moral character and right-standing with God.* Thanks to this letter to the Church in Thessalonica, we see that an abundance of love is not detached from high moral character and close proximity to God.
In our culture today, we can feel pressure to allow people to live however they desire, no matter how foolish, self-destructive, or socially detrimental. Similarly, we can reject the accountability of others in our lives, demanding that they allow us to do what we want in the name of “love.” In the name of love, we convince ourselves that love allows reckless abandonment. Contrarily, God tells us through His Word that an abundance of love brings us to model and thus call others to blamelessness and holiness in God.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to allow the love of God to grow in you and through you. Perhaps today God would ask you to allow His love to draw you closer to Him and His holiness. Maybe today God would have you find the purity of love once more.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!
*Holmes, M. (1998). 1 and 2 Thessalonians (pp. 115–116, 118). Zondervan Publishing House.
Shogren, G. S. (2012). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (p. 144). Zondervan.
Green, G. L. (2002). The letters to the Thessalonians (pp. 179–180). W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos.
Kim, S., & Bruce, F. F. (2023). 1 & 2 Thessalonians (D. B. Capes, Ed.; Second Edition, Vol. 45, pp. 300–301). Zondervan Academic.
Morris, L. (1984). 1 and 2 Thessalonians: An introduction and commentary (Vol. 13, pp. 76–77). InterVarsity Press.
Beale, G. K. (2003). 1–2 Thessalonians (pp. 110–112). InterVarsity Press.
Weima, J. A. D. (2014). Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: 1–2 Thessalonians (R. W. Yarbrough & R. H. Stein, Eds.; pp. 240–241). Baker Academic.