Firmly Established

“Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.” II Thessalonians 2:16-17

The word stablish (establish) is used here to mean “turn resolutely in a certain direction.” Paul’s desire for the Christians in Thessalonica was that the Lord would turn them resolutely toward “every good word and work.” Good words and good works are defined by the principles in the Word of God. The Bible establishes the guidelines that we use to determine appropriate speech and behavior. As Christians, we have a responsibility to become familiar with the teachings of scripture and use them as the ground rules by which we live our lives. It should be obvious to the people around us that we are followers of Christ by the way we speak to them and the way that we treat them. When these desirable actions and words become firmly entrenched in our way of life, the people around us develop expectations regarding our deportment. They eventually begin to expect us to be kind, thoughtful, industrious, positive, and encouraging people. The patterns that they see in our lives become a testimony of the things that we believe. The practical outworking of our faith has established a reputation before those around us of kindness in word and deed. Every day presents us with an opportunity to further establish ourselves in good words and good works.