Kingdom Building

November 8, 2019

Scripture Reading:
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring. To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We pray for our faith to grow abundantly, as the love among us for one another increases. I wrote this paraphrase prayer taken for Paul’s writing above because upon reading it, I was struck by the question have I been praying for what is really needed in my life, in the life of my church, and in society itself. I do pray regularly. I pray for my family, for the people on our concerns list at the church, for our country and our world. I cannot remember praying for the love among us for one another to increase. I cannot think of a greater need in our world today than for the love among us for one another to increase. Now one could argue that all our prayers for family and society are a part of increasing love for one another. The ingredient that seems to be missing is our intentionality in loving one another.

Perhaps we put too much emphasis on the emotions of love rather than the act of loving. Perhaps we think of love more often as a noun than a verb, a “thing” rather than an undertaking. I was taught in grade school that a noun was a person, place, or thing. The word love appears in dictionaries as both a noun and a verb so since it is not a person or a place it must be a thing. The thing called love is most often described as a feeling of strong or constant affection for another* whether expressed or not. God expects us to actively live our love in everything we do just as God does.

Prayer:  God who is love We pray for our faith to grow abundantly, as the love among us for one another increases. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/love

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.