Increase in Love to One Another

“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 NKJV)

What is the purpose of calling of God? As Apostle Paul prays for the saints in the troubled church in Thessalonica, the goal of God’s calling is to increase and abound in love to one another and to all. Paul and Timothy set the example of love to the young church there. That is the picture of fully grown mature man in Christ. There is no place in the scripture to make man increase and abound in religious performances.  

Our God is interested in the growth of love in the man of light who has been made alive in Christ Jesus. The redeeming grace of God is through the bloody death of Christ. The payment has been made in perfection and completion once for all. The sinless blood of Christ can cleanse and wash away any sins with the faith of believers. In Christ, we are cleansed and washed away and made new creations. Christ did not pay the price for us to try the best to live as far as we can. Christ laid down His life for us to live eternal life which He has imparted to us. 

Jesus lived a life of freedom and unorthodox. Look into His boldness and confidence, directly challenging the status quo of the nation by healing the sick on the Sabbath. Jesus did not hesitate to do the will of the Father at every given opportunities, even in the midst of watching eyes of the Pharisees. He was harsh and provocative to the religious hypocrites, driving them all the way to the verge of holding the stones in their hands. 

However, Jesus was kind and compassionate to the sick and the needy even unconditionally. He never rejected anyone who came and ask Him anything. He demonstrated the love of God in fullness. He even gave up His life for sinners when we were still the enemies of God. He is compassionate eternally on the weak and the lost. That is why God let the begotten Son be perished in torment and pain to take over the sins of the world. 

And that is what God is after to those who are saved in the grace of the cross. The deliverance of God is to make us increase and abound in love to one another and to all. Be more loving, forgiving, and enduring in Christ! It means to love the unlovable, forgive the unforgivable, and endure the unendurable. It is perfectly possible not because we are able to do it but because Christ lives within us, the hope of glory. 

Right at the moment of pressure, Christ is right there as well. Jesus is willing to help you out if you let Him help you out. “And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matthew 8:2-3 NKJV)

In fact, that is what we exactly wanted to be, the man of love and beauty whom God intended man to be before the creation of the world. What God gives is what we really want to be. The program of God is for us to be what He is.