{"id":27206,"date":"2023-07-16T22:00:37","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T05:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-thessalonians-2_13-3_5-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T22:32:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T05:32:47","slug":"2-thessalonians-3_6-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-thessalonians-3_6-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Take Advantage of Other People’s Kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Thessalonians\u00a0 3:6-18 \u00a0<\/strong>Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a06-15: \u00a0Here Paul addresses another problem in the church at Thessalonica: idleness, or laziness.\u00a0 Apparently, some Christians in the Thessalonian church were becoming known for freeloading off of others in the church. They were taking advantage of the kindness and generosity of other Christians, frequently getting other Christians to pay for their meals and other material wants\/needs instead of getting a job and paying for things themselves.<\/p>\n

Paul commands the idle ones to get a job and earn the bread they eat (v12).\u00a0 He tells his church to keep away from those who are idle (v6, 14) — that is, don’t be influenced by them too much and don’t let them take advantage of you.\u00a0 He also tells them never to tire of doing what is right (v13).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Be a hard worker. Don’t be lazy and don’t live with a sense of entitlement.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Don’t let others pay for your meal, your bubble tea, or your ticket, when you could easily pay for it yourself.\u00a0 Be much quicker to give than to receive.\u00a0 Remember, salvation from God is free, but respect from people is earned.<\/p>\n

No one exemplified this hard work ethic more than Paul and his team.\u00a0 Paul and his team were entitled to receive financial support from their church in Thessalonica; it was their God-given right (v9).\u00a0 Even so, they chose to work night and day to support themselves while ministering to the church in Thessalonica.\u00a0 Paul and his team went above and beyond (v7-10) so as to set an example of working hard.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0If someone likes to take advantage of your kindness and generosity, if it has gotten to the point where they are habitually taking advantage of you, it is okay and necessary to draw the line, set boundaries, and say no.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Paul says in verse 14, “take special note of him.\u00a0 Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.\u00a0 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.”<\/p>\n

2\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a03:16\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 16: \u00a0An awesome blessing from Paul, which I pray for you today too:\u00a0may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

2\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a03:17\u00a0(NIV)<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 17: \u00a0To help the\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a0be sure that this was not a counterfeit or forged letter, Paul writes a greeting in his own hand so that the\u00a0Thessalonians\u00a0can be confident that it is actually him sending this letter.<\/p>\n

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are a God of grace and yet also the hardest worker in the room.\u00a0 Help me to be the same: a person who receives and experiences Your grace, but who also works hard and doesn’t take advantage of others’ kindness.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Thessalonians 3:6-18.\u00a0 Let’s go!
\n\u00a0
\n2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 (NIV)
\n6\u00a0\u00a0In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
\n7\u00a0\u00a0For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you,
\n8\u00a0\u00a0nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
\n9\u00a0\u00a0We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow.
\n10\u00a0\u00a0For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a06-15: \u00a0Here Paul addresses another problem in the church at Thessalonica: idleness, or laziness.\u00a0 Apparently, some Christians in the Thessalonian church were becoming known for freeloading off of others in the church. They were taking advantage of the kindness and generosity of other Christians, frequently getting other Christians to pay for their meals and other material wants\/needs instead of getting a job and paying for things themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27208,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27206"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27209,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27206\/revisions\/27209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}