But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 NABRE
Paul wrote the two letters to the Thessalonians because he could not complete his preaching when he was present with the people. The religious authorities were jealous of his success and forced him to leave town in a hurry. The first letter completed the preaching but caused some confusion. The second letter is meant to clear things up. The confusion was around life after death and the second coming. In the closing of the second letter Paul speaks about faith. He says not all have faith. Faith is a supernatural gift from God. It cannot be obtained by working for it or without the aid of God in the form of the Holy Spirit. However, faith is required to ascend to the gospel message and to know God who is unknown by human standard. Knowing God is like knowing the unknown, it is not really possible. But with faith we know God exists, he loves us and wants what is best for us. This is what Paul writes in the letter. God is faithful and therefore unlike those who are unfaithful we can put our trust in Him. We do not need to have any doubt. God give us faith. With faith God desires our love, desires we listen to His word and follow the commands of Jesus, to not only love God but to love others. God will strengthen and guard us from the evil one. As we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.” (Mathew 6:13) There is evil and it is trying to subvert the work of God, we need strength to avoid evil.
We must ask for faith and we must accept strength from God. The work of each of us is to live so others may come to believe. Without faith and strength this is not possible.
How strong is your faith? How faithful are you in asking for strength to defeat evil?
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