Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
1 Thessalonians 4:9 NIV
Brotherly Love
In November 2024, a group of undergraduates studying urban and regional planning, heading to Pennsylvania to research the “City of Brotherly Love” got a firsthand look at the integration of historic heritage and urban revitalization on a six-day field research excursion to Philadelphia, USA. October is field trip season for Toronto Metropolitan University planning students — an essential part of experiential learning in the undergrad curriculum. Students explored ways in which Philadelphia balances preservation of its rich historical heritage with the needs and demands of urban revitalization.
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We followers of Christ are an amazing lot. I’ve been in church my whole life and it is always a blessing when I see believers caring for each other. Pew Research tells us that Christians volunteer more than any other group, donate to charity more money than anyone else, and genuinely care for others. Paul knew this was the mark of the church in Thessalonica. Paul writes about this in 1 Thessalonians 4:9: “Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.” It’s easy to think love is just a feeling—but God teaches us it’s much more than that. Paul reminds the Thessalonians, and he reminds us, too: we’ve already been taught by God to love one another. That means we don’t have to figure it out on our own. Every act of kindness, every word of encouragement, every moment we choose patience over frustration—those are God’s lessons coming alive in our lives. So today, let’s live what we’ve learned.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley