Examples of Christ

Well good morning I hope you will stay with me as we look at another couple of passages from 1 Thessalonians 1. I can be a little methodical as I study God’s word but sometimes you just have to slow down and savior the banquet that has been put before you. The passage that I was reading this morning is 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10. We looked at verse 5 yesterday and came to understand that our witness is only as powerful as our conviction and our surrender to the Holy Spirit. These passages we are looking at today discuss our position as imitators of what we have received. I have been around church most of my life in one form or another and I have seen both the good and the bad of imitation. The first part of the passage reads:

6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord.7 As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia.

1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 (NLT)

Two things can be learned from this passage first that acceptance of Christ and walking in relationship with him does not automatically make your life without suffering or conflict in most cases it actually can bring more strife to you as you begin to live a life that is different and people fail to understand what changes are taking hold in your life. I challenge you to stand firm in your convictions and always remembering the words of C.S. Lewis, “that better things await then the things we leave behind.”

The second part of these verses tells us that if we hold fast to what we have received and live it out in word and deed than we each will become an example of what God can do with what the world often considers to be a broken and useless. The impact we have as believers has no limit and most often we never realize the influence we are actually having on those God has placed in our path. In the average life time you will have interacted with over 10,000 people. Everyday that you live out your life in Christ is an opportunity to change a life and introduce someone to Christ.

We read in verses 8-9 something that I have seen in churches and individuals who understand what I am writing about. Have you ever been talking to someone about church and the start talking about something positive that happened to them? An example someone paid for their groceries in the checkout line only to find out they were members at the church you attend. That is what was going on in Thessalonica their testimony and example of Godly living was spreading out into the world around them impacting every community they had contact with.    

8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it,9 for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.

1 Thessalonians 1:8-9 (NLT)

The lives we live have impact in ways we may never see or understand this side of eternity and all of that comes back to what Paul tells the Thessalonians in verse 10:

10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NLT)

When our lives center on the hope that comes from knowing that Christ is coming back and he has made a way for us to once again enjoy fellowship with God. This hope lets us live lives worthy of the sacrifice Christ made for us/ Living lives that are examples for others to follow. I pray God gives you opportunities to lead by example in everything you do. Be blessed as you walk in the light of God’s Word.