Font Size
1 Thessalonians 5:12-14
New Catholic Bible
1 Thessalonians 5:12-14
New Catholic Bible
Building Up the Community[a]
12 Show Respect for Leaders.[b]Brethren, we beg you to respect those whose duty it is to labor among you as your leaders in the Lord and to admonish you. 13 Show the highest esteem for them in love because of their work. Be at peace with one another.
14 [c]We also exhort you, brethren, to admonish those who are idle, encourage those who are afraid, support those who are weak, and be patient with everybody.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Thessalonians 5:12 In this section Paul gives brief but cogent instructions in building a community. He especially lists the responsibilities of Christians toward leaders (vv. 12-13), toward all (vv. 14-15), toward themselves (vv. 16-18), and toward public worship (vv. 19-22).
- 1 Thessalonians 5:12 Christians must show respect for their leaders, just as those same leaders must show caring leadership for their people. The leaders were undoubtedly the “bishops” and “presbyters” of 1 Tim 3:1-2; 5:17; Tit 1:5. Christians must hold these leaders in the highest esteem and render them wholehearted support in a spirit of love.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:14 Christians must warn the recalcitrant, such as those who are lazy and do not pull their weight at Thessalonica. They must also encourage the fainthearted, like those troubled about their friends who had died before the Second Coming of Christ (1 Thes 4:13) and confused about what that event meant for themselves (1 Thes 5:1-11). They must also help those afflicted with moral or spiritual weakness in the face of persecution (1 Thes 3:3-5) or temptation (1 Thes 4:3-8) or the like. Finally, they should show patience with everyone. Above all, they should never pay back evil for evil in accord with the words of Christ (see Mt 5:38-42).
