As you read 1 Thessalonians 2, use Paul’s description of the manner of his ministry as a model for what everyday ministry must look like for you. We are too often preoccupied with what people will think of us. This is one of the greatest obstacles to us being available and sensitive to God at any given time. It is because of this concern that we too often miss those opportunities that God wants us to step in to. The opportunities that God gives us are always opportunities to show love to people and to share, not just a message, but our lives as well. Often you only get to share God’s message once you have first demonstrated the message by your care for the other person. Paul says that they demonstrated the message by their righteous and holy conduct. This doesn’t just mean that they were morally perfect. It means that they lived different sorts of lives entirely. It meant that they were not pursuing the same futile goals as godless people but were devoted to God’s purpose and preoccupied with doing his will. This is what it means to be ‘holy’. It means being set apart and distinct. It means that you are on a different pathway altogether than those who live self-centred lives. If you preach a message that is all about calling people back to God and yet you fail to embody that, it is no wonder if people do not believe you. Changed people change people. Let the truth be formed in you and then become its messenger. This is how it was for Paul.
Yield yourself to God so that he may transform your heart more and more each day.
Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
