09/01/2026
A Faith That Functions, A Love That Labours, and A Hope That Holds On
1 Thessalonians 1:3
“Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.”
There are seasons in ministry when the work is exciting. People are being saved, the church is growing, prayers are being answered, and it seems like God is moving everywhere we look.
Then there are other seasons.
There are seasons when we preach our heart out and wonder if anybody heard us. We pray for people who seem to walk farther away from God. We pour ourselves into others and sometimes wonder if anybody notices. There are days when the burden of ministry feels heavier than the blessing of ministry.
But Paul reminds us here of three simple things that ought to characterize the servants of God.
1. A Faith That Functions
Paul called it a “work of faith.”
Real faith does something.
Faith is more than saying we believe God when everything is going well. Faith gets up on Monday morning and keeps serving after a difficult Sunday.
Faith keeps praying when the answer has not come.
Faith keeps preaching when the altar is empty.
Faith keeps witnessing when people seem uninterested.
Faith keeps putting one foot in front of the other because we believe that God is still working even when we cannot see what He is doing.
I have learned that some of the greatest victories in the Christian life begin with simply saying, “Lord, I still trust You.”
We may not understand the season we are in, but we know the One who brought us into it.
That is a faith that functions.
2. A Love That Labours
Paul then speaks of a “labour of love.”
Ministry can never survive for very long if our only motivation is recognition, attendance, applause, or results.
Eventually those things disappoint us.
But love keeps serving.
We preach because we love Christ.
We visit because we love people.
We witness because we love the lost.
We encourage another preacher because we know something about the burden he carries.
Sometimes love looks like standing behind a pulpit. Other times it looks like sitting beside someone in a hospital room, making a phone call, praying with a hurting family, or quietly encouraging another servant of God who is ready to quit.
Jesus never promised that loving people would always be easy.
But He showed us that genuine love is willing to labour.
There may be days when nobody sees what you are doing.
God sees it.
There may be people who never thank you.
God remembers it.
There may be sacrifices nobody on earth ever understands.
Heaven knows every one of them.
So keep loving.
3. A Hope That Holds On
Finally, Paul speaks of the “patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There are times when ministry requires patience.
Sometimes we are waiting on a prodigal to come home.
Sometimes we are waiting for a church to heal.
Sometimes we are waiting for revival.
Sometimes we are simply waiting for God to show us what comes next.
And in those moments, our hope cannot rest in circumstances.
Our hope rests in Christ.
People change.
Health changes.
Finances change.
Opportunities change.
But Jesus Christ is still the same.
And because He has not changed, we can hold on.
Pastor, missionary, evangelist, Sunday school teacher, church worker...whatever burden you may be carrying today, don't lose heart.
Your labour is not wasted.
Your prayers are not forgotten.
Your faithfulness is not unnoticed.
And your story is not finished.
Keep a faith that functions.
Keep a love that labours.
And keep a hope that holds on.
Because the same God who called us is the God who will sustain us.
And when the road gets long and the burden gets heavy, sometimes the greatest testimony we can give is simply this:
“By the grace of God, I'm still here. I'm still trusting Him. I'm still loving people. And I'm still looking unto Jesus.”
-- Steven Livingston (COME Evangelist)
www.rbgm316.org
