written by Jim Stern

If you are in Christ, then you have been called out of this world to live and walk in the supernatural Kingdom of God. And life in the Kingdom is DIFFERENT and BETTER than life in the world. The various books of the Bible train in Kingdom life. And 1 Thessalonians is no different.  

As we learned last week, the operative power in the Kingdom is the will of our Father. We no longer live for our wills and our desires. We daily crucify our plans and embrace His, confident that His are far greater than ours.  

In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12, Paul says Kingdom life is about increasing love, shutting up, and getting to work. He writes… 

⁹Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; ¹⁰for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, ¹¹and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, ¹²so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need. 

Notice how remarkably simple Paul’s instructions are:

Love more. 

Talk less. 

Work faithfully. 

That is not the way most people in the world pursue significance. 

The world says, “Promote yourself. Make sure everyone hears your opinion. Find a way to avoid hard work while maximizing comfort.” 

The Kingdom says something very different. 

Love sacrificially. Live quietly. Work diligently. 

Ironically, these simple instructions create the very kind of life people are searching for. A person who continually grows in love becomes rich in relationships. A person who lives quietly enjoys a peace that many never experience. A person who works faithfully develops purpose, dignity, and provision. 

And when all three are found in one life, that life becomes a powerful witness. 

It is worth noting that Paul calls these things an ambition. Think about that. Most ambitions are loud. They are public. They are visible. We want to be known, recognized, followed, applauded, or celebrated.  

Paul says your ambition should be a quiet life. Your ambition should be minding your own business. The world loves to get into other’s business. Loves to comment. And LOVES to have an opinion. (Have you seen Twitter?)  

And your ambition should be faithfully doing the work God has placed in front of you. While some people and places in the world tend toward laziness, we in the United States are too busy. We are prone to work MORE than what God has placed in front of us. In the Kingdom we are not trying to keep pace with the workload of the world. Our pace is dictated by faith, not by the American Dream. 

Culture celebrates those who burn the candle at both ends. Those wise in the Kingdom have learned how to work while at rest in the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  

That is profoundly countercultural. 

The believer does not need to chase significance because significance is found in obedience. We do not need to make a name for ourselves because we already bear His name. We do not need to strive for importance because we are already sons and daughters of the King. 

So what if we took Paul’s words seriously this week? 

What if we excelled still more in love? If we valued people, and time with people, over material things? What if we spent less time discussing the failures of others and more time praying for them? 

What if we devoted the same energy to our God-given assignments that we devote to following the latest controversy, rumor, or outrage? 

Imagine the impact. 

Families would be healthier. 

Churches would be stronger. 

Communities would be transformed. 

And outsiders would see something they rarely see in our culture: people who are deeply loved by God and therefore deeply at peace. 

That is Paul’s point. 

Love. 

Live quiet. 

And work. 

It may not sound revolutionary, but in a world driven by selfishness, noise, and entitlement, it is one of the most radical Kingdom lifestyles imaginable. 

And according to Paul, it is exactly how those who have been called out of this world should live.