| “So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders…” |
| (1 Thessalonians 4:12, NIV) |
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
| “So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders…” |
| (1 Thessalonians 4:12, NIV) |
thedailylily.com 
Mystery words; “so that!”
When I read some verses preceding this scripture it looked like in order to enable the ‘so that’ 2 things had to be done first according to the scripture right before it: mind our own business and work with our hands.
Debi,
Look at the footnotes for verses 11-12, from NLT: “Christian living is more than simply loving other Christians. We must be responsible in all areas of life. Some of the Thessalonian Christians had adopted a life of idleness, depending on others for handouts. Some Greeks looked down on manual labor. So Paul told the Thessalonians to work hard and live quiet lives. You can’t be effective in sharing your faith with others if they don’t respect you. Whatever you do, do it faithfully and be a positive force in society.”
whoa!
Thanks for sharing your footnotes, Tammy. It looks like without a character of integrity, a respectable work ethic and a life of virtue, words can be a dime a dozen.
“without a character of integrity, a respectable work ethic and a life of virtue, words can be a dime a dozen.”………………..good point, Debi.
The wording of the Amplified Bible confronts us with quite a challenge. Paul exhorts us to not “over-reach or defraud our brothers & sisters in Christ…in business, especially. But we are called to ‘brotherly love for ALL OTHER CHRISTIANS. As for the reason the Lord asks us to work peaceably with our hands and mind our own business, it is to give testimony to others of the LOVE of the Christian for his/her brother/sister….being self supporting and being dependent on no one, having need of nothing. Wow! What a wonderful way to live….it is by faith and faith deeds.
In regards to daily life Ephesians 4 which is referenced in the side bar of the NIV Bible not only says the above but from 29-32 says the following: Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is hepful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgivng each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
One of my devotional reading today adds a few more suggestions, I believe, for helping to fulfill the key scripture verse of the blog, “So that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders…”.
Here is a portion,”Each day, our Lord asks us, as his chosen and dearly loved people, to clothe ourselves in humility. This often requires that we remove some of the traits in which we often clothe ourselves. For example, in love for Jesus, we lay aside our pride and selfishness, replacing those soiled outfits with a focus on the needs of others. Humility may require that we roll up our sleeves and do the tasks others find distasteful. We take on those duties that those around us find tedious or even demeaning. We volunteer for assignments that will probably go unnoticed and unrewarded. As we work at each of them, we follow our Savior in humility.”
That is interesting as one of my devotionals today spoke of humility too as a way of living for Christ. The way David Teems put it complemented one of Sara’s famous writings. Teems: “As you enter the Door of Love with the twin companions of surrender and HUMILITY”……Sara: “Watch your wings”” Good counsel!
There is always a quote of the day on the school website where I work. I thought this quote was a good one to consider with regard to the blog quote.
“Good order is the foundation of all things.
Edmund Burke”
Debi’s quote from burke….not sure I get this…Are there no things with bad foundations? Hey, let me get a big mug of coffee and think on this!
Well, thinking on what you said, Sara, I would say yes…plenty of things have bad foundations…some buildings, some peoples lives, etc etc.
Guess I was thinking more from the perspective that the Lord Jesus is a God of order, not disorder and Jesus is the foundation of the church.