Christ Church Daily Devotion Oct 26 2023

In today's Daily Devotion, we read from 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15. Paul instructs us to acknowledge and appreciate those who work hard, even when they correct us. He also urges us to live in peace, warn the idle, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, and be patient with everyone. We should not seek revenge or treat others poorly. Instead, we should strive to do good for each other, even if we don't know them. Living out these instructions may be challenging, but it is rewarding and reflects Christ's love and grace. Today's personal worship option is to pray for God's peace and to show love and grace to others. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for October 26, 2023. Today we will be reading from 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 12-15. Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard, in love, because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive. Encourage the disheartened. Help the weak. Be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong. But always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. These final instructions that Paul gives out in this Scripture passage are hard to live out. He is asking us to praise others who work hard and to be grateful when they reprimand us for wrongdoing. Paul says we are to live in peace. That seems impossible these days. We are to strive to do what is good for each other, even if we do not know them. How often do we want to treat someone poorly because they have treated us badly? Paul instructs us to not pay back wrong with wrong. Part of our Christian behavior is to encourage others and be patient. Are we thinking of this when we blast our horn when a car is slow to go through a green traffic light? Do we hurriedly run with our grocery cart to get in the checkout line ahead of someone? We are supposed to be Christ-like. Take meals to someone who is sick. Feeding the homeless. Mentoring someone who is in jail. Teaching a Bible study. And working toward justice are all ways that we can live out the instructions in this passage. We are to live and serve together. It is challenging and hard to live the Jesus way. It is also rewarding to live this way and be thankful for the sacrificial love and grace that we have been shown. Today's personal worship option. God, make us channels of your peace and help us to show love and grace to those around us. Amen.