1 Thessalonians 4:3-8

This is the will of God, your sanctification:
that you refrain from immorality,
that each of you know how to acquire a wife for himself
in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion
as do the Gentiles who do not know God;
not to take advantage of or exploit a brother or sister in this matter,
for the Lord is an avenger in all these things,
as we told you before and solemnly affirmed.
For God did not call us to impurity but to holiness.
Therefore, whoever disregards this,
disregards not a human being but God,
who also gives his Holy Spirit to you.

This passage actually kind of cracks me up. You have to put this in the context of Paul’s entire letter to the Thessalonians. Paul just got done praising them for their faith in chapter 3. In chapter 4 he moves right along into hitting them with the convicting truth of God’s will for them; their sanctification.

This is a really contentious reality among believers today. But the truth of the matter, again, based on this passage and many many other passages like it, is that God doesn’t just want us to believe in him. I mean, even the demons in Hell believe in God. In other words… get ready for it… “faith alone” is not enough. God wants our belief in him to transform us. For this to happen, it takes a deliberate act of the will to change our actions. We have to choose to accept the gift of the transformation he offers us. To put it more along the lines of how St. Paul says it in this passage, “All that sexual immorality ya’ll Thessalonians are partaking in, STOP IT. God doesn’t just want people to believe in him. He wants us to reach our fullest potential. He wants us to become the saints we were created to be.

If there are parts of your life you know in your heart do not represent the best version of yourself, make the choice to not participate in whatever that may be… just for today. Show yourself that it is possible by God’s grace. Maybe you’ll find taking it one day at a time, that you really are capable of more than you know.