I once heard that when you’re in your twenties you are concerned with what others think about you. When you’re in your forties, you don’t care what others think about you. And when you’re in your sixties, you realize people aren’t even thinking about you anyway.
I think there’s a bit of truth to that. 🙂 Yet, perhaps there are things that people will think about us, things we’ll be remembered for.
I believe people will remember how we made them feel – if we were kind – if we really cared about them – what was important to us -and what we lived for. When Paul wrote a letter of encouragement to the Thessalonians, there were certain things he noticed about them and made a point to mention their greatest qualities. He said:
“We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 1:3
Paul commended the Thessalonians for these three things:
- Work produced by faith.
- Labor prompted by love.
- Endurance inspired by hope.
The infamous three characteristics of Paul’s letters: faith, hope and love.
As we journey through life with others, what will be said about how we lived our lives? Did we exhibit these characteristics?
Faithful Work: Is what we’re doing and how we’re spending our time stemming from a life of faith. Are we working as unto the Lord? Does our faith direct our work? Is our faith the rubric through which our work is filtered through?
Loving Deeds: Is love the driving force behind all we do? For God and for others? If love is the basis of all we do, we will not give up, we will not quit. Is love truly our motive? Godly love empowers us to keep laboring even when we’re tired and weary.
Enduring Hope: We are on this journey on earth for the long haul. The beauty of waiting on God – not running ahead nor lagging behind – reveals our hope we have in living conjoined with the Spirit. God is trustworthy and will strengthen us to continue on this journey as we believe in His Word. When the journey seems overwhelming, we can be hopeful that all things will work for good as we endure through all that comes our way.
This is the beauty of living a life of faith, hope and love.
May we continue to live…
Rooted in Him,
