A Call to Prayer, Christian Unity, and the Love of Jesus
Scripture Focus: 1 Thessalonians 5:9–11, 14, 24–26
“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (KJV)
Have you ever stopped to think about how we, as Christians, treat one another?
We talk about the goodness of God. We talk about His mercy, His grace, His forgiveness, and His unfailing love. We tell others about the salvation we have through Jesus Christ. We encourage people who are hurting to turn to the Lord and trust Him through their storms.
But what happens when the hurt is within the body of Christ?
What happens when the very people who are called to love one another begin to criticize one another, hold grudges, speak hurtful words, spread division, or tear one another down instead of building one another up?
These are questions we must be willing to ask ourselves, because following Jesus is not only about what we say we believe. It is also about how we live, how we love, how we forgive, and how we treat the people God has placed around us.
God Has Not Appointed Us to Wrath
First Thessalonians 5:9 tells us:
“For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” — KJV
Paul is reminding believers of the salvation and hope we have through Jesus Christ. In the context of this passage, he is speaking about God's deliverance and the hope of salvation, not giving permission for Christians to live in anger or condemn one another. Yet this verse invites us to consider something important: If we have received the gift of salvation through Jesus, shouldn't our lives reflect the One who saved us? We cannot claim to be walking in the love of Christ while deliberately nurturing hatred, bitterness, jealousy, resentment, and unforgiveness toward others. We are human. We get hurt. People disappoint us. Sometimes people say things that cut deeply, misunderstand our intentions, or treat us unfairly. Even Christians experience these struggles. But we must ask ourselves: What are we doing with that hurt? Are we taking it to God in prayer, asking Him to help us respond in a way that honors Him? Or are we allowing our hurt to become anger, our anger to become bitterness, and our bitterness to become something that harms others? God knows our hearts. He knows when we have been wounded, and He understands our pain. But He also calls us to bring that pain to Him rather than allowing it to rule the way we treat other people.
We cannot always control how others treat us, but with God's help, we can choose how we respond.
We Are Called to Build One Another Up
First Thessalonians 5:11 says:
“Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.” — KJV
The word edify means to build up, strengthen, or encourage.
Think about that for a moment. God does not call us to compete with one another over who is the most spiritual, who knows the most Scripture, who has the greatest ministry, or who appears to have the strongest faith. He calls us to strengthen one another. There are people sitting in our churches every Sunday who are carrying burdens we know nothing about. Someone may be fighting a battle in their family. Someone may be grieving a loved one. Someone may be quietly struggling with fear, loneliness, disappointment, or a situation they cannot explain to anyone else. That person may not need our criticism. They may need our prayers. They may not need us to remind them of every mistake they have made. They may need someone to remind them that God's grace is sufficient and that they do not have to walk through their struggle alone. What if, instead of looking for faults in one another, we began looking for ways to strengthen one another? What if we prayed for the person we disagree with instead of talking about them behind their back? What if we offered encouragement instead of condemnation, compassion instead of judgment, and forgiveness instead of holding onto every offense? Imagine how different our homes, our churches, our friendships, and our communities could be if we truly practiced what God's Word teaches us.
It is easy to build ourselves up while making someone else feel small. But godly character is revealed when we choose to help someone else stand.
Sometimes We Must Set Aside Our Pride and Personal Feelings
Let's be honest: Loving people is not always easy. It is easy to love someone when they agree with us, appreciate us, encourage us, and treat us kindly. But what about when someone hurts our feelings? What about when we feel overlooked, misunderstood, rejected, or unappreciated? That is when our faith is tested. Sometimes we become so focused on what someone did to us that we forget to ask God how He wants us to respond. We replay the conversation in our minds. We remember every hurtful word. We begin to build walls around our hearts. Before long, our pain can become the center of our attention, and we lose sight of the person God has called us to be. Jesus showed us a different way. He loved people who rejected Him. He showed compassion to people who were suffering. He prayed for those who persecuted Him. Even while suffering on the cross, He prayed for those who were crucifying Him. Jesus did not pretend that sin was acceptable, and He did not avoid speaking the truth. Yet His life showed us a love that was willing to sacrifice for the good of others. We are not Jesus, and we cannot love perfectly in our own strength. But we can ask Him to change our hearts so that our responses begin to reflect His character. Sometimes that means swallowing our pride and apologizing. Sometimes it means choosing not to return an unkind word. Sometimes it means praying for someone when our feelings tell us we would rather turn away from them. And sometimes it means establishing healthy boundaries while refusing to let hatred take root in our hearts.
Putting our feelings aside does not mean pretending we were never hurt. It means refusing to let our hurt have the final word over how we live and love.
We can bring our wounds to Jesus. We can ask Him to help us forgive. We can trust Him to work in places within us that we cannot heal by ourselves.
First Thessalonians 5:25 says:
“Brethren, pray for us.” — KJV
Paul understood the importance of prayer. Even as a leader and servant of the Lord, he asked fellow believers to pray for him. If Paul needed prayer, how much more should we recognize our need to pray for one another? Yet how often do we spend more time discussing someone's failures than praying for their restoration? How often do we share someone's struggles with other people when we could instead bring that person's name before the Lord? There is a difference between seeking wise counsel when someone has harmed us and spreading hurt that damages another person's reputation. There is also a difference between holding someone accountable for wrongdoing and treating them as though they are beyond God's grace. Prayer changes the way we approach people. It reminds us that every person has a soul, every person needs the Lord, and none of us stands before God because we are perfect. When we pray sincerely for someone, we invite God to work not only in their heart but also in ours. We may begin to see that person with greater compassion. We may recognize our own shortcomings. We may find the strength to forgive, the wisdom to speak truth in love, or the courage to pursue reconciliation when it is appropriate. And when reconciliation is not possible or safe, prayer can still help us release vengeance and entrust justice to God. What if we made a commitment to pray before we speak about someone? What if we asked ourselves, “Will my words help restore, encourage, or protect, or will they simply cause more hurt?”
Not every conversation about another person is wrong. But our motives matter, and so does the fruit our words produce.
Encourage the Discouraged and Help the Weak
First Thessalonians 5:14 teaches believers to warn the unruly, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak, and be patient toward all.
Notice the wisdom in that instruction. Not everyone needs the same kind of help. Some people need loving correction. Others need comfort because their hearts are discouraged. Some need support because they are struggling. And all of us need patience. God does not tell us to treat every struggling person as though they have the same problem or need the same response. Sometimes love requires correction. Sometimes love requires listening. Sometimes love requires practical help. And sometimes love simply means sitting beside someone who is hurting and reminding them that they are not alone. We must learn to discern the difference. We should not use Scripture as a weapon to humiliate people. We should use God's Word to guide us toward truth, holiness, mercy, and restoration. When someone falls, our first desire should not be to celebrate their failure or make ourselves appear better. We should desire what honors God and helps that person move toward what is right.
Galatians 6:1 teaches believers to restore someone who has fallen with a spirit of meekness, while also taking care to watch themselves.
That is humility. That is compassion. That is recognizing that we, too, depend on the grace of God.
How Can We Lead Others to Jesus if Our Lives Reflect Division and Hatred?
This is a question every Christian should consider prayerfully.
We want people to know Jesus. We want them to experience His forgiveness, His grace, His salvation, and the hope that only He can give. But our behavior can either help people see the beauty of Christ or make it harder for them to understand the message we proclaim. Jesus said in John 13:35:
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” — KJV
Jesus identified love for one another as a mark of His disciples. That does not mean Christians will never disagree, make mistakes, or need correction. It means that love must remain central to the way we treat each other. If we speak constantly about God's love but show contempt toward those around us, we need to examine our hearts. If we encourage others to forgive but refuse to consider forgiveness ourselves, we need to pray for God to work in us. If we tell others to turn to Jesus but use our words to shame and destroy, we need to ask whether our actions are reflecting the Savior we claim to follow. Our witness is not built on perfection. It is built on belonging to Christ and allowing Him to transform us. When we apologize for our mistakes, forgive as we have been forgiven, speak truth with gentleness, and show compassion to those who are struggling, we demonstrate that the gospel is not merely something we talk about. It is a truth that is changing our lives. We must remember that the goal is not to win every argument. The goal is to honor God and faithfully point people toward Jesus.
God Is Faithful to Continue His Work in Us
First Thessalonians 5:24 says:
“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” — KJV
What an encouragement this is!
God knows that we are still growing. He knows where we struggle, where our feelings overwhelm us, and where we need His correction. We cannot transform our hearts through willpower alone. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us, convict us, strengthen us, and help us become more like Christ. When we find ourselves struggling with resentment, we can pray for help. When we realize that we have spoken unkindly, we can repent and seek to make things right. When we find it difficult to forgive, we can ask God to begin working in our hearts, even if the process takes time. And when we see another believer struggling, we can remember that God is still at work in that person's life, too. This does not mean ignoring harmful behavior or removing appropriate accountability. It means leaving room for God's truth, grace, and transforming power to do their work. We are all people who need the mercy of God.
Let us never become so focused on correcting someone else that we stop allowing God to correct us.
Imagine what could happen if every believer made a deliberate effort to encourage someone each day. Imagine if we prayed for the person who hurt us instead of wishing harm upon them. Imagine if we reached out to the person who had been absent from church, checked on the friend who was struggling, or offered a kind word to someone who felt forgotten. Imagine if our churches became places where people could find biblical truth, loving correction, compassionate support, and genuine encouragement. We may not be able to change every heart or resolve every conflict. We cannot force anyone to respond in love, and we must not take responsibility for choices that belong to others. But we can choose to be faithful in our own actions. We can choose prayer over hurt, humility over pride, encouragement over needless criticism, and patience over hostility. We can speak the truth without cruelty. We can forgive without pretending that wrongdoing never happened. We can establish boundaries without nurturing hatred. And we can remember that every person we encounter is someone who needs God's grace.
First Thessalonians 5 reminds us that we belong to one another as a community of believers. We are called to encourage one another, support the weak, pray for one another, and trust in the faithfulness of God. Let us stop measuring our spiritual growth only by how much Scripture we know or how often we speak about our faith. Let us also examine the fruit our faith produces in our relationships.
Are we bringing peace where we can? Are we helping those who are discouraged? Are we praying for those who are hurting? Are we allowing Jesus to shape our words, our attitudes, and our hearts? May we become people who leave others stronger in faith rather than wounded by our words or actions. May we remember that our calling is not to build ourselves up at someone else's expense, but to help one another grow in Christ.
And may the way we love one another point people toward the hope of salvation through Jesus Christ.