I love the Lord’s church. It is the greatest entity known to man. What, though, makes the church great? How does a church stay healthy? Paul answered this question when talking to the struggling church at Thessalonica. It was not struggling because it was weak but because the resistance to the truth was so strong.
They had three qualities that made them strong, the same three that make individuals strong. Paul also talked about those traits in 1 Corinthians 13:13 when he said the three things that matter are faith, hope and love. Those three characteristics that make the individual strong are the same three that keep the church healthy.
As the church, we must be full of works of faith. A healthy church will be identified by the good things it does for the community and for the world. A healthy church is marked by its labor of love. Just as in 1 Corinthians 13:13, the greatest is love. Love is the reason that anything we do has meaning. As the church of Christ, we must love as He loved us. Hope is the key to keep us moving forward. No one does anything unless there is something toward which to look forward at the end of the effort. Our hope is in Jesus Christ, and He is trustworthy. We remain steadfast in His Word because we know He has something in store for us if we do continue to abide in the Gospel.
When we hang on to faith and do good things in His name, do our work in His kingdom because of our love for Him and our neighbors, then we have hope in the future that our efforts will be rewarded. Let’s keep our Lord’s church healthy. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
