Paul told the Thessalonians that as their faith grew, their love grew too. The two things come bundled up together. So how do we ‘grow in love’ like they did? Well, as your faith in God’s goodness grows, you see how you can share it. You see how introducing God’s goodness to people changes and affects them. Love stops just being a nice idea or warm feeling. It starts being about sharing, with others, in the goodness of a relentlessly kind Father.
Practical steps, then. Here’s one way you can do this, and grow in love like the Thessalonians. When friends are fearful, call out the love in their life. Let’s say they’re afraid of rejection, or loneliness. Call out the love that they have for God, and that He has for them. Call out the love they’ve shown you in your friendship. When you do this, you’re putting your trust in the God who says ‘perfect love casts out fear’. We have faith that love overcomes fear without a second thought. Love isn’t a footnote or a tangent – it rewrites the script of those conversations completely. It’s the antidote to fear. When you introduce it into those conversations, you grow in love, and the person you’re with grows in love. That’s kind of like what Paul was talking about here: love that grows as your faith in God grows, because the two can be the same thing: sharing, with others, in the goodness of a relentlessly kind Father.
What now?
Start with yourself. Where are you scared, today? What are you trying to push to the back of your mind? Tell yourself how much God loves you in that area.
