1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

My thoughts and actions do not always please God. All Christians, if they are honest, would say the same. None of us are able to live perfectly pleasing lives; some are uncomfortable calling this sinning, I am not as long as I define it as “missing the mark.” I’m not talking about deliberately disobeying God or acting out in rebelliousness or anger. I am recognizing the fact that as we grow in Christ we are constantly learning how a Christian is to act in different situations. As we grow, we do some things differently than we did when we first became Christians.

Paul tells the Thessalonians that his instructions were intended to teach them how to live pleasing to God. That is part of the role of a preacher. A pastor that leads people into a right relationship with God, and then does not teach them how to live a righteous life is not fulfilling all of his responsibilities. Paul recognized, and commended them for living lives that were pleasing to God, but at the same time he told them that “they must do this more and more”. There is never a point in the Christian life where we can sit down and say we have arrived.

Paul wrote to them about the need to live sexually pure lives, but he also told them of the need to live a quiet life. He was not saying to talk softly and carry a big stick. He was saying that Christians are pleasing to God when they do not deliberately create disturbances. Christians are to be peacemakers, not troublemakers. He told them to mind their own business and to work. Christians who are lazy or rabble-rousing trouble makers do not please God, and they do not earn the respect of outsiders.

Pleasing God is not just about results. God is pleased by our desire and effort. When we miss the mark, we should admit it, learn from it, and correct it.