Walk Worthy - 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

The Christian life is both an inward and outward transformation; Jesus takes control of everything about us. In the first three chapters of this letter, Paul talks heavily about how God works in our hearts and inside of us. In chapter 4, Paul begins to discuss how the work that is doing inside of us should reflect on the outside through the way we live our lives.

In verse 1, Paul tells the Thessalonians to continue to walk and please God and to do so more and more. Paul also mentioned this in Colossians 1:9-10: “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”. The fact that Paul tells people to walk worthy in two different letters should strike you as significant. Why should we walk worthy? Well in verse 2, Paul tells us that they are to walk worthy because Jesus instructed them to.

Imagine for a second that you are sentenced to die because of a crime, but someone else came in and willingly paid that debt for you. What would your natural reaction be? Mine would probably involve being extremely thankful and asking if there was anything I could ever do to repay that person. Now, stop imagining because that scenario is real. All of us have committed crimes and sins and so we are sentenced to die, but Jesus took that penalty on the cross because He loved us so much. When we ask Jesus what we could do to repay Him, He instructs us to walk worthy and to live in a way that reflects the love He gave us and continues to give us everyday.

So now we know why we are to walk worthy, and in verses 3-8, Paul tells the Thessalonians that the sin in their lives is not worthy of the calling God has given us. He tells the Thessalonians to abstain from sexual immorality, to control their bodies, to have no lust, and to not wrong their brothers. Do you struggle with these things? If not, what things do you struggle with that prevent you from walking worthy? Confess them to God, and ask for His forgiveness.

In verses 9-12, Paul talks about brotherly love. Why does he include the word “brotherly”? Why doesn’t he just say “love” by itself? The word love has a lot of different meanings. For example, I often say that I love cheeseburgers. Is this the same kind of love Paul is talking about? Of course not. He’s talking about loving each other like brothers, like family. The church is one giant family. We have all been adopted by God into his family which is why we are often referred to as children of God. Paul tells us here that we are to love each other as family. Who do you need to love more? Is it your biological family? A classmate? Someone in youth group? Someone you pass by a few times a week but don’t talk to? Take some time to pray and to ask God who He wants you to love more.