9-10 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. 11-12 But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 English Standard Version

In the first 8 verses of this chapter the apostle Paul said that God's will for these new Christians was their 'sanctification'. God wanted them to come away from the sins of the world and live in a way pleasing to Him. This included abstaining from the sexual immorality that was so common in the gentile world. Rather than sexual immorality, they were to pursue brotherly love. What did Paul base this appeal on? (vs 9-10)

It was something God had taught them to do! He had done so by loving them so much that He had given His beloved son to die for their sins. Amazing love! They would also have heard of Jesus' words when He said to His disciples: “Little children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and what I told the Jews, I now tell you: Where I am going you cannot come. I give you a new command: Love one another other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you have love for one another.” (John 13:33-35)

It seems the Thessalonians had taken that to heart and news of the change in their lives had spread even to surrounding regions, just like Jesus had said would happen. People knew they were Christians because of the genuine love they showed for one another. We need to ask ourselves whether our life displays anything of this love Jesus calls us to.

But Paul didn't stop there. He urged them in the following verses to put that sort of love into action more and more! We can understand why he said this from what he wrote in one of his other letters. He said there: “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. So, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to those in the family of faith.” (Galatians 6:8-10) Love can be hard work, and thankless too. This sort of love isn't just emotion and sentimental emojis. What is the practical outworking of such a lifestyle according to vs 11-12?

Christian love seeks to get on with living as productively as we can so we can look after ourselves and our loved ones, and not be busybodies meddling in the lives of others or being dependant on them. He enlarges on this in chapter 5:14-15 and says: “We urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people ”

While Christians should be ready to help those in genuine need, there will be some people who try and sponge off the hard work of others. In a follow up letter to this Church Paul wrote: “Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don’t follow the tradition they received from us. We were not idle when we were with you, we never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. While we were with you, we gave you this command: 'Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.' We hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work, and meddling in other people’s business.” (2 Thessalonians 3:6-11)

Christians should depend on God for their daily needs. Yes, there may be times when God uses fellow Christians in meeting those needs. That's what love does. But that love must not be exploited because of laziness. May we be the hard working independant people God wants us to be.