1 As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister.ReflectionsWritten by Andrew Jamieson.In today’s passage, we learn that it is God’s will for us to be sanctified. He wants us to live differently to the rest of the world. This seems a hard word. Why should I live differently? It takes effort and goes against my natural tendencies to give in to sin. Paul encourages us to live differently to the world because we are different to the world. We know God. That is, we are in a relationship with him through Jesus Christ, and that changes everything. We don’t live holy lives to earn God’s favour, Jesus has already done that for us. We do it in response to his love and mercy towards us. We saw this earlier on in the letter when Paul said that the Thessalonians' work for God was produced by faith, their endurance was inspired by hope in Jesus Christ (1:3). Living in faith pleases God. However, sexual temptation is a reality even for many Christians. We live in a world that says to do whatever makes you feel good. But God commands us to avoid sexual immorality and to control our own bodies. Striving in our own strength to do this either leads to pride when we succeed or shame when we fail. So how do we obey God’s command? If you are caught in sexual sin don’t ignore it, confess your sin knowing that Christ died for sinners and God loves to forgive completely. This call to holiness is to a people who are already in a relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to continue to listen to Paul’s instructions in God’s Word so we know how to live. As we live holy lives, we show that we have been set apart by God. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for making us holy in Jesus. I’m sorry for the times I continue to sin. Please forgive me and help me to live in a way that pleases you. In Jesus name, Amen.About the AuthorAndrew and his wife Bassema are part of our Bossley Park morning congregation, along with their 3 boys.