Christian Love and Godliness

As we look at 1st Thessalonians 3:11-13 today, we will find Paul’s prayer for the church of Thessalonica to grow in Christian love as the soil that brings forth a godly and enduring faith.

Paul Prays for God’s Intervention

In verse 11, Paul is building off of what was mentioned in verse 10 which was his desire to see them and to minister to them so that they might grow in areas of their faith where they are weak. So, in verse 11, he prays that God would intervene and make the path straight that Satan keeps placing hindrances in. If you remember last weeks lesson, we saw that Satan was hindering Paul’s attempt to return to Thessalonica, so Paul makes it clear here that where there is spiritual hindrance, there must be spiritual intervention. What is particularly interesting here is that Paul includes the Lord Jesus Christ in his prayer. The reason this is important is because the Jews would never include another name alongside God’s as they prayed, to do so would be to equate that other individual with God Himself. So, Paul is making it clear that by praying the God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that Jesus is God Himself and that God must intervene if they are going to make it back to the Thessalonians.

I think that the anxious desire of Paul to make it back to these believers should cause us to examine our own hearts toward the believers in our own lives, and that’s something that we are going to look at here in a minute. However, another piece that I think we should emphasize is the both the person and power of God and how that encourages our prayers. Paul realizes that his mission is being hindered by Satan and so he runs to the Lord and asks that He would do what Paul himself can’t accomplish. This should be the case for us in our own lives as believers as well. Is there something that seems impossible? Take it to the Lord. Are you worried about witnessing to those around you and find yourself thinking that it’s hopeless? Take it to the Lord, He can make a way where the devil seems to have destroyed all options.

Now, like we said earlier, in verse 10, Paul is wanting to visit these believers to mature them where they are weak and in verse 11, he is praying that God would allow him to return to Thessalonica so he can do just that.

Well, in verse 12, Paul is now praying that the Lord would bless the work going on in Thessalonica and it seems that he may be asking that the Lord would use his ministry to them to grow them in their Christian love, but the word grow just isn’t strong enough. Paul doesn’t want simple growth, he wants them to increase with love so much that they overflow with it and he’s praying that they might mimic the same love that he has shown them as their model.

So, not only do we see that Paul is praying for God to intervene and allow him to make it back to Thessalonica, but now we see:

Paul Prays for God’s Provision

As I was reading through this verse, I was struck by how strongly Paul desires for God to grow us in love. So, I thought it would be helpful to take some time today to focus on love in the Bible and to highlight just a few things about it for us today as we think about how God grows us in Christian love. The first thing I want us to realize about Christian love is first:

God gives it to us.

Ezekiel 36:26–27 NKJV

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

God will grow us in it.

As we consider His love for us.

1 John 4:7–11 NKJV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

b. Though the ministry of others to us.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 NKJV

12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,

God gives it to us so that we might obey Him better.

John 14:15 NKJV

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

God grows us in it to show grace to the world.

John 13:34–35 NKJV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Now, Paul doesn’t just want them to increase and overflow with this love for no reason. He wants them to increase in it so that they might actively love both each other and those who don’t know the Lord. Now, we need to ask ourselves a quick question? What does it look like to love other Christians and what does it look like to love those who don’t know Jesus?

What does it look like to love other believers?

It looks like praying for one another and seeking to help others grow as Paul has demonstrated in 1 Thessalonians.

It looks like being willing to set aside your preferences for the sake of those around you. (Romans 14)

It looks like bearing one another’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)

It looks like graciously attempting to restore fallen brothers and sisters. (Galatians 6:1)

It looks like caring for their needs. (James 2:15-17).

What does it look like to love the lost?

Sharing the gospel with them (Romans 10:13-14)

So, so far we have seen that Paul 1. Understands the power and person of God and prays for God to work. 2. Paul desires to be used of God to strengthen the Church where she is weak and strives to set an example of godly love for them.

But finally, in verse 13, we see that:

Paul Prays for God to Plant Us in Love

One of the sweetest things in the world is to see elderly married couples that managed to stay in love all those years together. They might have suffered serious hardships and fought some serious fights, but their marriage was planted in love and they weren’t about to pluck it up. Well, Paul prays that we would be rooted, or established in an even deeper love.

Michael Martin writes, “Blameless, sanctified hearts can only grow in the soil of a genuine and abundant love.” He continues, “Blameless is a concept descriptive of something or someone judged acceptable before God in sacrificial worship. Holy is a noun describing the state of that which is sanctified as God’s special possession. God’s saints… are those dedicated to Him and His service. Thus their lives should reflect the values and character of the Father. If the Father is love, so must His children love...”

So, according to Paul, God will use Christian love as the soil from which they will flourish in holiness. However, this kind of love isn’t just a once in a while or short lived experience and we see that in the last part of the verse as Paul has the end of time in mind when Jesus returns. What he’s telling us about this love is that not only did God give it to us, not only will He grow us in love, but this Christian love will cause us to grow in godliness until the Lord returns. The established Christian heart is one that is so deeply anchored in God’s love that it will be grounded until the end.

One thing I think we need to remember is that the prayer we just read, is a prayer that was inspired by God and therefore, is God’s desire. God desires for us to love one another, for us to overflow with it, and for us to be so rooted in Christian love that we grow in godliness until the end of the world.

Do you know that praying this prayer is a prayer that God is happy to answer? As a matter of fact, in 2 Thessalonians we see that God answered this prayer of Paul’s for the Thessalonians so much so that Paul says they are an example to the other churches! 2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 says,

2 Thessalonians 1:3–4 NKJV

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, 4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,

Do you want to experience that? Do you want to experience sweet fellowship with believers where we sacrifice for each other, pray for each other, give to each other, and fight for each other? Do you want to be grounded in the love of God and the love that God has given us? If so, let’s pray for one another and pray that God would cause us to overflow in Christian love here at Beacon.