1 Thessalonians 3:6-7
(Timothy's Encouraging Report)
But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us the good news of your faith and love and reported that you always remember us kindly and long to see us, as we long to see you— for this reason, brothers, in all our distress and affliction we have been comforted about you through your faith.
Truth: When people report about you, it should be about your walk in "faith."
In this letter Paul wrote to the church in the city of Thessalonica, Paul expresses a great love for them and great memories of his time with them. He has stated, on numerous occasions in the first three chapters, how he misses them and wishes he could see them. Because he can't (he is under "house-arrest" for his faith), he sands young Timothy to check on them. He is their "father" in the faith, having led them to the Savior. He now wishes to know about them and their subsequent walk with Christ. When Timothy returns he reports that they are, indeed, still walking in faith. That faith is producing children in Christ who express love to each other and toward Paul, himself. Paul is encouraged about their walk in faith. That should be the measurement of what we are all about. When others talk about you, do they marvel at your faith? We tend to make popular the talents of others; the skill-sets of others; the knowledge of others. In reality what we ought to celebrate is a life of faith that produces love for others and hope in Christ. That is what happened in the lives of these believers Paul was writing to and about in this letter. In Hebrews 11 we have what is typically called the Hall of Faith. The men and women listed in that chapter were all memorialized for their walk of faith. They might have been talented, skilled and knowledgable, but God was pleased with them because they were not men and women of the flesh, but of faith. That is what we ought to leave as a legacy and reputation. Do people talk about our faith in Christ or talent in the flesh?
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