Devotion 

May You Abound in Love

Frances Taylor 

Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians might as well be a prayer for all Christian communities. May our Christian communities increase and abound in love for each other and toward all people. Is your community increasing? Mine isn't. Maybe we don't seem to be abounding in love toward one another. Or maybe we don't look like we love others, either. Some of my friends have children who have moved to communities where they feel welcomed and are invited to participate with their children in church activities. These communities are growing. The key is love and welcome.

The early Christians were known by their love for one another. Perhaps it's because our communities have grown too large and we don't know everyone. Some churches are so large that not everyone knows their fellow parishioners. Then there are the television communities that claim a Christian following. It's very difficult to love the 30,000 or more that you're celebrating with! One solution seems to just love everyone, since that's what we're called to do anyway. Then when asked, we can always let them know the reason for our love – Jesus! Perhaps we should be praying for our churches as Paul prayed for the Thessalonians. Let's try to find ways to bring love into our churches and into our communities. Let's think about what our role is, what plans God has for us. I'm sure that he will guide us if we truly want to get involved.

Prayer 

Loving God, you have called us to be like you and love others as you love us. We want others to know you, and so we have to show them your loving face, help us be you in our world. Amen.