Daily Scripture
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
12 Brothers and sisters, we ask you to respect those who are working with you, leading you, and instructing you. 13 Think of them highly with love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
Romans 12:18
18 If possible, to the best of your ability, live at peace with all people.
Matthew 7:12
12 Therefore, you should treat people in the same way that you want people to treat you; this is the Law and the Prophets.
Reflection Questions
As we look at how Paul closed his first letter to the Thessalonians this week, we’ll see how his guidance to those early converts echoed Jesus' teaching and how Paul developed the same themes in some of his later letters. The first two verses of his closing today encapsulated the premise that was contained in Matthew’s later reporting of Jesus' “Golden Rule.” It sounded simple, but is hard enough to do that it bears repeating: treat other people the same way you wish them to treat you.
- Paul urged the Thessalonians to respect those who are “working… leading… instructing.” “Paul tells church members to love their leaders not in order to set them on a pedestal but for the sake of their service (1 Corinthians 16:16).”* There weren’t yet formal “appointment” or training processes for leaders, but there were already people who used their gifts in faithful service to others. How does Paul’s guidance speak to you in our more formally organized times?
- At times Christians seem to think the Golden Rule means no more than “Be nice” in surface-y, social ways. Jesus said that short phrase held the deep spiritual essence of all “the Law and the Prophets,” the entire Hebrew Scriptures. What people or conditions make it hardest for you to truly treat others as you wish they’d treat you? When has someone else treated you by the Golden Rule’s standard? How did that affect you?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I wish my thoughts toward others just naturally turned to respect, love and peace. Reshape me from the inside out so that I treat others as I want them to treat me. Amen.
* Love L. Sechrest, study note on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 in The CEB Study Bible. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2013, p. 395 NT.
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