GROWTH

Paul, Silas and Timothy thanked God for the believers at Thessalonica. The reason they were so thankful was "because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing." (2Thess 1:3)

I wonder if Paul, Silas and Timothy would have had the same thankfulness for us if they had heard about our faith and love? Would they have seen our faith and love growing?

Let's think back a year, ten years, or since we first gave our lives to the Lord. How much has our faith and love grown since then? How much has it grown recently? Sometimes we can find ourselves stuck in the routine of being a Christian, doing what needs to be done, but not really growing. We need to make sure we have consistent growth in both faith and love in our lives all the time. If we are find that we are becoming more exclusive in our Christain lives, we may find that we are feeding our faith but our love is dying. Or if we are full of compassion but the hope of the return of Christ is no longer a reality, then our love may be strong, but our faith needs some serious work.

Let's make sure our faith and love are works in progress, growing, no matter what stage we are at, to the glory of God.

Robert Prins [Auckland - Pakuranga - (NZ)]