Love and Blameless

Read: 1 Thessalonians 3
“…and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13

Examine:
There are two keys in this verse for a believer that will unlock a confident and bold standing before God; love for others and blamelessness before God.

Apply:
Everything in the Christian life is birthed and sustained in love for others. It is the love of Christ growing in me and overflowing to the lives of others that enables God to begin the work of establishing my heart. My peace with God will never exceed the level of love I actively pour out to others.

Being blameless before God is also critical to having peace with God. God’s demand that I be blameless must in no way be interpreted as a command to be perfect. Blameless means that as best I can from where I am I do what I know has been asked of me. If I ask Hayes to write his name I am not going to chastise him if he does not do it perfectly. All I expect of him is the writing of a 4 year old. It is the same with God. He does not expect perfection, only great effort and results that fit my maturity.

Pray:
When I allow anger and frustration to replace love and sacrifice I must expect my peace with You to leave. My heart cannot be established if my interaction with others is based on anything other than love. Likewise, when I allow my imperfections to stop me from attempting to follow You I can also expect my heart to not be established in anything I do. My selfishness affects my love and my pride affects my service.

My pride wants to do things perfectly or not do them at all. My selfishness wants my own needs covered before I look to serve others. My pride demands perfection because perfection allows me to do things on my own terms. My selfishness wants to be cared for by others so that I receive more than I give. By nature I do not want to continue loving others when the costs are too high and I do not want to do anything if I can’t do in perfection.

I turn to You this morning. There are lessons I am learning with each of these. Over both of these situations I have begged You for change. This morning my sense is that my prayers need to shift toward endurance instead of begging for things to be better. Help me stay engaged in the race so that I do not forfeit the prize.