Both of these books of the bible are part of the collection of Paul's letters. Again these letters begin with thanksgiving for having received and accepted the gospel. These letters also include sections on living to please God and the coming of the Lord along with standing firm and warnings against idleness. These letters are instructions to the church in Thessalonia and encouragement for staying close to God.
My two favorite verses are both in 1 Thessalonian, chapter 5. Verse 11, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." I don't feel that as an entire society that we do this, but I do feel that as a community in my small group we do this. We encourage each other in job/graduate school hunts, in ways we are handling things and we genuinely love one another. I love it.
Verse 16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." To me the only way you can always be joyful is by continually being in prayer. God is the one who gives us joy and we get this through being in constant contact with Him. I like that Paul directly says to give thank in all circumstances. I don't think that this necessarily means just lie down and deal with people being famished or with roommates making you feel unwelcome-but to look upon it as in the solution to these conflicts you become closer to God and can witness to others. If we continually give thanks we can see that this situation will make us stronger in Him and fall more in love with Him.
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