Category Archives: 1 Thessalonians

What belongs to God

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James Tissot (1836-1902)
Le denier de César
opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, between 1886 and 1894
Brooklyn Museum

Jesus said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Matthew 22:21

We are God’s people, all of us, every single precious human being on earth. We are alive by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are here to be God’s loving, healing, compassionate presence to everyone we encounter.

Today I will honor God by conforming and aligning my mind, heart, and will to God’s. I will ask the Holy Spirit to guide my words, actions, and behaviors that I may become more like God in love and goodness and do my best to carry out God’s vision of unity, love, and peace among all people.

Increase love

First Sunday of Advent
First Sunday of Advent

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all. 1 Thessalonians 3:12

The life of Jesus makes known the ways of the Lord. When we decide to follow Jesus, we intentionally choose the Way of love, healing, peace, justice, compassion, and respect for all people, especially the poor and marginalized.

Today I will increase my love for my neighbor by making a donation to a food pantry.

Embody goodness

Third Sunday of Advent

Test everything; retain what is good.
Refrain from every kind of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

Kindness is good. Patience is good. Respect for all people is good. Forgiveness is good. Giving thanks is good. Compassion is good.

God’s love for us is good and calls us to turn away from the dark to embrace the light.

Today I will seek the light of Christ to help me embody goodness with my words, actions, and behaviors.

Christ light

Rembrandt (1606-1669)
La parabole des talents

For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. 1 Thessalonians 5:5

Our light is the Christ, the light of goodness, the light of love, the light of compassion, the light of mercy, the light of forgiveness, the light of healing.

Today I will shine my light of goodness and love wherever I find myself.

A wider, deeper heart

Tree of Jesse Icon, 17th c.

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all. 1 Thessalonians 3:12

My capacity to give and receive love dips and rises and mostly seems to plateau at a level that feels most comfortable for me. What would it feel like to continually increase in love, to greet the world and everyone in it with an abundance of joy, compassion, kindness, respect, encouragement, and delight?

Today I will ask God to widen and deepen my heart to increase my capacity for love.

Daughters and sons of love and goodness

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
Sketch for “Jesus the Son of Man”, 1923
graphite and watercolor on paper
Metropolitan Museum of Art

As members of the human family, we are interconnected, entwined with the One who made us in love and for love.

Made in God’s image of love and goodness, we are called to take on the nature of God, called to be love and goodness in the world, called to “live in Love’s energy and to love goodness.”

Today I will practice love by looking for goodness in everyone I meet.

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all. 1 Thessalonians 3:12a