Flourishing Faith and Growing Love
We ought to thank God always for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, since your faith is flourishing and the love each one of you has for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 csb
I enjoy gardening very much. When I’m in the garden, I feel just a little more connected to the Lord. There are so many spiritual lessons I see while tending plants. For instance, if I want my plants to grow, I need to water them. I need to enrich the soil with organic matter and break up the hard ground. This allows the roots to receive the water, nutrients, and oxygen they need to grow into larger, healthier, and happier plants.
In the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the church in Thessalonica, he expresses his thankfulness that their faith is flourishing and their love for one another is increasing. Paul had planted this church and was now hearing about the fruit of his labor. But it made me wonder how is their faith flourishing, and how is their love increasing? What causes these two spiritual fruits to grow?
Just like a garden, there are certain elements that must be added to our lives if we want to flourish spiritually. In Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ”(CSB). If we want our faith to grow, we need to be in God’s Word. The Word of God feeds and strengthens our faith.
In 1 John 5:2-3 tells us, “This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden.” As we spend time in God’s Word and then put it into practice, we discover that loving God is expressed through obedience. And in keeping His Word, our love for Him—and for His people grows.
James 2:26 says, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.” The works of faith are works of love. When we serve others, we are dying to self. The combination of God’s Word and God’s love produces God’s works in us. This is how the fruit of faith and love is produced just like in the garden.
I’m reminded of an old Maranatha song we used to sing: “More Love, More Power, More of You in my life!” Sadly, our self-centered culture has often infiltrated and influenced the church, so that we see less flourishing faith and less growing love for others and more love for self. But it doesn’t have to be that way for you. All we need to do is add the right spiritual elements, and the garden of our hearts will begin to flourish once again.
Agape,
Frank
What’s Inside Counts
“For both circumcision and uncircumcision mean nothing; what matters instead is a new creation.” Galatians 6:15 csb
Down the street and around the corner from my home, there’s a house where a hoarder lives. The home is filled from floor to ceiling with things that are never thrown away pizza boxes, Amazon packaging, waste, and containers. But from the outside, you’d never know it. The front yard is always well kept. The trees are trimmed, the lawn is mowed, and the grass is green and watered. It all looks nice on the outside, but it doesn’t reflect what’s really happening inside. Eventually, the county had to get involved because of complaints from the neighbors, and they’ve started clearing out the interior.
This picture reminds me of what the Apostle Paul was addressing when he wrote to the Galatians. Jewish religious leaders had been influencing Jewish Christian men and women, convincing them that they needed to add something to the grace they had already received through the mighty Gospel. These leaders were putting external pressure on the very churches Paul had planted. So Paul writes to exhort, correct, and remind them that it is by grace through faith alone that we are justified that is, made right with God. The external observance of the Law could no longer make someone righteous.
In Paul’s closing statements in Galatians 6, he wraps up the entire letter. And in the verse we’re looking at, Paul like the skilled lawyer he was delivers his closing argument: “Outward works mean nothing (like a man being circumcised) if his heart isn’t changed.” God originally gave circumcision as a sign to Abraham to set him and his descendants apart from the rest of the world. It was a mark of holiness—a declaration that they were set apart. But later, the prophet Jeremiah would reveal the true heart of the matter:
“Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of your evil deeds.” — Jeremiah 4:4 (CSB)
The people were focused on keeping the law, making sure their sons were circumcised—but it did nothing for their hearts. God's desire was for hearts that were clean, new, and holy. Just like the hoarder’s house where the yard is clean, but the inside is filthy religion can make a person look good on the outside, but do nothing for the inside. That’s the problem Paul is addressing in Galatians. No matter how many good works you do, no matter how strictly you follow the law, it can never make you a new creation. It can never give you a clean heart. Only grace through faith can justify us in God’s eyes. Only through Jesus Christ can any man or woman be made righteous enough to meet God’s perfect standard.
That’s liberating news! I don’t have to strive to become righteous Christ makes me righteous. I don’t have to perform external works to be justified for heaven Christ did the work on the cross of Calvary. So many people live in condemnation, believing they’re not good enough, thinking they have to do more to be holy. But that’s a lie. That’s bondage. True freedom is found in Christ alone. It’s only through Jesus that we are made holy. It’s only through Jesus that we are made right. When you believe that when you live in that understanding you’ll experience what verse 16 says: “May peace come to all those who follow this standard, and mercy…” If you want to know true peace, know Christ. If you need mercy, it’s found at the cross.
Agape, Frank