Bible Passage: “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 NIV)
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-3
The apostle Paul has a favorite “triad.” A set of three principles that raises the bar for men who follow Christ.
To the Thessalonians, he writes of the same three that he sent to the Corinthians: faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
This week, we’re going to explore some of Paul’s messages and encouragement to the believers in Thessalonica. We’ll bring his words of challenge into men’s lives and contexts today.
The world, in every culture, offers men a wide variety of motivations—a plethora, you might say.
Some of them are good: the welfare of our family drives us to work hard; compassion prompts generosity that looks foolish; conviction emboldens us in adversity.
Other motivations entice us down a darker path. Greed cuts corners at our jobs. Ambition steals time from family. Momentary pleasure hijacks our thoughts, our eyes, our self-control, and leads to disaster.
Paul offers the Thessalonians, and men today, a triad of motivations. We might be tempted to think of faith, hope, and love merely as good characteristics. They are. They are also motivations. They lead to action.
Faith leads to work. We strive to work well, applying ourselves for our employers, being honest with our time and effort, and looking for ways to benefit the company.
Love leads to labor. When the love of God flows through us, we look for those to whom we can give ourselves, our time, our energy, and our resources. The neighbor who needs help fixing his fence, the church group that needs a leader (even though we feel underqualified), and the community group that calls for volunteers to help clean up the local kids’ park.
Hope gives us the strength to carry on. Sally forth when the job seems pointless and the boss is domineering. Endure when relationships go sour and bonds are broken. Father well when the rebellion of adolescence is relentless. Stand alone for what is right when compromise is easier or even requested.
Faith, love, and hope may not sound like qualities that define masculinity. In the context of faith in Jesus, they motivate us toward the lives that we all desire. They root us to the men we want to be.
Prayer: God, I confess that sometimes I’m not even sure what my motivations are. And sometimes, my motivations are less than righteous. I want to be a man who is characterized by faith, hope, and love; I want to be a man whose actions are driven by those qualities. Help me to be that man. Amen.
Reflection: What do you think are some of your average daily motivations? How would your day be different if you were to try to stay aware of what those motivations are?
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