THE LABOR OF LOVE (1)
My burden in this chapter is just one word: labor. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 the apostle Paul wrote, “Remembering unceasingly your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.” Here the apostle remembered the Thessalonians first in their work of faith, then in their labor of love, and finally in their endurance of hope.
There is a difference between work and labor. Paul used the word work first, mentioning the Thessalonian believers’ work of faith; then he used the word labor, referring to their labor of love. Nothing exhausts us as much as being vital. If we desire to be vital, we must prepare ourselves to be exhausted. It is not adequate to be vital for just one day. To be vital requires us to labor. Every farmer knows that it is not enough merely to work. A farmer must labor. This is why we need endurance. To work does not require very much endurance, but to labor, we need endurance.
In Colossians 1:28 Paul says that he announced Christ by admonishing and teaching every man in all wisdom, that he might present every man full-grown in Christ. Then in verse 29 he says that he labored for this, struggling according to God’s operation, which operated in him in power. In the next verse, 2:1, Paul says to the Colossians, “I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those in Laodicea, even all who have not seen my face in the flesh.” In these verses Paul says that he labored by struggling. This indicates that something was opposing and working against Paul so that he needed to struggle. The word for struggling in 1:29 can also be translated “contending,” as in wrestling. This indicates that in order to labor, we need to have a fighting, struggling spirit.
In 1 Corinthians 3:6 Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.” To plant and to water are not merely a work but a labor. We cannot plant a seed one day and after two days expect to see it grow up. After we plant a seed, we must take care of it. After one week we may see very little growth, and after two more weeks the growth may appear to be about the same. This will exhaust us and at times even discourage us. It may cause us to think that we have planted and watered in vain. However, we need to labor by continuing to till the ground and fertilize and water the plants day by day. Paul uses all these illustrations to show us what kind of work he was doing.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul says that he labored more abundantly than all the other apostles. Then in verse 58 of the same chapter he advises us to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1993, vol. 2, “The Training and Practice of the Vital Groups”, ch. 12, pp. 357-358)
The church in Zamboanga 