Daily Scripture
“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsidersand so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Daily Devotion
My family moved to Calhoun not long after I had started my 10th grade year in High School. Moving high schools, towns, joining a new basketball team, and finding a new church where big parts of that move for me. My family visited churches for a few months within Gordon County before landing here at Belmont. Belmont took our crazy family, all six of us, and we each became involved very quickly. I was quickly plugged in with a High School girls life group that had a leader who took many hours of her life to pour into me. When people hear that I moved in the middle of 10th grade, they normally start off with “Wow, that had to be hard.” I must say, looking back, I don’t remember many “hard” days. Sure, there were some and it was definitely challenging at times, but a lot of the reason why I wouldn’t describe that time as “hard” was due to Belmont, my lifegroup leader, and the Christian friends that I was plugged in with at church and school.
When reading the passage for today, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12, I see the three characteristics that Belmont, my lifegroup leader, and my friends had. They are also ones that I want to strive to have a part of my everyday life.
In Verse 3, it says “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” The word sanctified means “set apart as or declared holy.” Then, in verse 9, it reminds us “For you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” The last point that I want to mention is in verse 11-12, we are taught that we are not just to love, but we are to serve as well.
When I look at those three things, I notice why my transition time was not “hard.” I quickly joined a church, had a lifegroup leader, and friends that were each of those characteristics. They were set apart from this world, they each loved God, and strived to help me live a life running after God. The church, my lifegroup leader and my friends loved me, showed me the ropes of Calhoun, made me fit right in, and served me. Belmont, after our first visit at the church, showed up at our door with cookies asking us if there was anything that we needed. My lifegroup leader spent countless hours mentoring me in and outside the walls of the church. My friends that I quickly made included me and did whatever they could to make me feel included in life group, at school, and at social events.
As a church, I hope that we each strive after these three things that 1 Thessalonians has taught us: To live a life set apart from the world, to love others, and to serve.
Heather Parr, Belmont Young Adult