The Necessity of Walking In A Manner Pleasing to God...(1 Thess 4:1).

Our passage reads "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more." If you are a Christ follower, it's required to

walk in a manner pleasing to Him! Walking in a manner pleasing to God is not an option! The word "ought" comes from a Greek word meaning, "it's necessary" or "required." It means that we're not free to choose how we want to live as Christ followers! We're obligated to live in a manner that glorifies and pleases the Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul said it best with these words "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body" (1 Cor 6:19-20). Because the Christ follower has been bought with the precious blood of Jesus, we do not belong to ourselves but to the one who bought us out of sin. For that reason, we're under obligation to live in a way that brings glory, honor, and pleasure to God. It's the Lord's gracious, undeserved acceptance of the Christ follower that motivates and moves us to live in a manner that's pleasing to Him. Apostle Paul said "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him" (2 Cor 5:9). In context, Paul is teaching that in this life as well as in view of "appearing before the judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor 5:10), his continuous aim was to be pleasing to the Lord. That should be our strong desire as well! Your move. Be encouraged!