The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church of the Thessalonians, giving them some very simple instructions for living and for sharing the gospel. The church seemed to be doing well. He complimented their work of faith, love for each other and steadfastness to the gospel. He encouraged them to keep doing what they are doing and urged them to do it even more. This is a very encouraging letter compared to some others Paul sent.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 is a fantastic verse that is so often overlooked. Paul gives very simple basic instructions for life. I feel like if more people followed the principles of this verse there would be a lot less drama in our world.
Paul is telling the Thessalonians how to live so that their lives will be a witness of the gospel to to the unbelieving persons around them.
“Make it your goal”
Be intentional. Choose to live like this. We are all sinners so it won’t come natural. You have to fight the urge to live selfishly.
“to live a quiet life”
In a very loud world, living a quiet life definitely is not the norm. This word “quiet” in the greek means peace, tranquil, rest, not striving. I’m thinking of s slow moving stream maybe in a creek. It’s not stagnant , but gently moving forward, quietly. I think of how Jesus often ministered to others. He didn’t bound into town making a big announcement, he was just there, doing what he was purposed to do.
“minding your own business “
This is how we live a quiet life. We mind our own business. We stay in our lane. We are more concerned with how we are living than how others are living. We aren’t comparing ourselves with others, we are just focused on the choices the Lord has convicted us of.
As a homeschooling mom, this can hit hard. Often we moms base our success on the performance of our kids. I mean, that’s what others see right? So if my child can recite the states and capitals perfectly then everyone knows I’m teaching that well. And if we heard someone else’s child reciting the Preamble but our child can’t suddenly we feel like a failure. We start comparing ourselves to other moms and it then affects how we teach our own children. Mom, if you are guilty of this-remember, God made you their mom because he quips you to raise, nurture and teach them according to their needs. Stay focused on your own family. We can learn from each other, but we mustn’t compare ourselves to each other.
“working with your hands”
Stay busy. I know for moms, you don’t have a problem with that. But what are you busy doing? It’s important that our busyness is productive and God glorifying. We must be intentional in working to managing our homes well, teaching our children (you teach whether you homeschool or not) and loving our husbands in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. All we do must be done to his glory or it is done in vain.
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. Colossians 3:23
Teach your kids to work with this mindset. I think often that our society has conditioned us to believe that work is bad and to be dreaded. But work was created by God from the beginning, it wasn’t a result of The Fall, thought the Fall did change the type of work given. He gave Adam a job in the garden. We need to help our kids develop a mindset that work is good and to be done to the glory of God. When you work in this way it doesn’t go unnoticed. If you work for someone else you become a very valuable employee. This is something we have taught our kids…to be the most valuable employee. Their work ethic is always noticed by their employers and they earn their respect which usually results in a trusted position at work and better pay. But even if the better position and better pay doesn’t happen, they should still work to the glory of God because his opinion is really the only one that matters.
If you back up in chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians you will see that in verse 9 Paul reminds the church to love each other, that God is the one that has taught them to do this.
But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more. 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
I love how he reminds them of this simple command before he reminds them of how to live with others. If you cannot love each other then you won’t be able to live quietly, mind your own business or work to the glory of God. It all must begin with the correct posture of our heart. We much first love one another so that we can walk out these very simple instructions for keeping life simple and meaningful.
Dana Bailey 