In our last visit I encouraged you to always remember the essence of a Christian worldview. Review it when the going gets rough. It’ll encourage, comfort and inspire you to press on and persevere courageously.
Since it’s too soon to quit, what should I be about? First, foremost and always my desire should be that God would consider my walk worthy of His calling. Then I should establish some good purposes. To make sure our purposes are good they need to be Biblically based, prayerfully developed and thoroughly evaluated, including by others. Having faith in our good purposes, however, will not make them happen. We must act. But we must act prompted by faith that the purposes we’re acting on are good and that God will empower us to see them fulfilled through our actions. The important point in this is that God’s power is what fulfills these purposes. If they really happen, it’ll be because of God’s grace and it will result in Christ being glorified.
This should be our only concern. If it is, Paul points out, some of that glory will reflect on us. But when people see this happen it will be similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” That’s what life is all about for the Christian. Let me encourage you to review this study of 2 Thessalonians 1. Pray that God will enable you to live it out in your daily life.