Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
These words always make me smile. What easy instructions for living that Christ, through Paul, assigns to the Thessalonians - and us! At first, I thought of this as kind of a "Rule of Life". A way for humans to live peacefully with one another. Most of us are able to follow at least one of them, but to follow them all would be nearly impossible.
All we have to do is rejoice for everything in our lives, pray constantly and give thanks for all we have been given, live by the Holy Spirit, and be open to some prophesies, all the while holding fast to what is good and forgetting about all things evil. Not so hard!
The more I think about it, however, I have decided that these words are really meant as a way for us to live with and for God, rather than a way for us to live with our fellow humans. However, if we manage to follow God's will in Christ Jesus for us, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances, being open to the possibilities provided by the Holy Spirit, being open to some prophesies, we will be living in harmony with our fellow human beings also. Amen.
Susan Reimer
1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
These words always make me smile. What easy instructions for living that Christ, through Paul, assigns to the Thessalonians - and us! At first, I thought of this as kind of a "Rule of Life". A way for humans to live peacefully with one another. Most of us are able to follow at least one of them, but to follow them all would be nearly impossible.
All we have to do is rejoice for everything in our lives, pray constantly and give thanks for all we have been given, live by the Holy Spirit, and be open to some prophesies, all the while holding fast to what is good and forgetting about all things evil. Not so hard!
The more I think about it, however, I have decided that these words are really meant as a way for us to live with and for God, rather than a way for us to live with our fellow humans. However, if we manage to follow God's will in Christ Jesus for us, rejoicing always, praying without ceasing, giving thanks in all circumstances, being open to the possibilities provided by the Holy Spirit, being open to some prophesies, we will be living in harmony with our fellow human beings also. Amen.
Susan Reimer
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