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Advent Season · First Sunday of Advent · Year C

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

A Prayer to Increase in Love

November 28, 2027

Charity, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Charity, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1878Private collection
A woman with as many children as she can hold, two asleep across her and one more pressing in at her knee.May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, so that he may strengthen your hearts in holiness.William-Adolphe BouguereauBouguereau, who made the old allegory look like an ordinary woman with too much to carry.Private collectionA private collection.Private collection
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelLuke 21:25-36Lk 21:25-36
Epistle1 Thess. 3:9-131 Thes 3:9-13
Old TestamentJer. 33:14-16Jer 33:14-16
PsalterPs. 25:1-10Ps 25:1-10

Overview & Insights

“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all... so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)

Paul overflows with thanksgiving for the Thessalonians' faith and prays earnestly to see them face to face again. He asks God to make their love abound so that they will be found blameless and holy at the coming of the Lord Jesus.

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Commentary

Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13Commentary on 1 Thes 3:9-13 Working Preacher

The Lutheran home commentary on Paul's prayer that love would abound before the Lord's coming.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Commentary1 Thes 3:9-13 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

A Reformed preaching commentary on thanksgiving, longing, and love as Advent postures.

1 Thessalonians 3 - Paul's Longing to See Them1 Thes 3 - Paul's Longing to See Them Enduring Word · David Guzik

A verse-by-verse evangelical study of Paul's joy and his prayer for the church.

1 Thessalonians Commentaries and Sermons1 Thes Commentaries and Sermons Precept Austin

A gateway to inductive word studies and cross references across 1 Thessalonians.

1 Thessalonians 3:9 Commentaries1 Thes 3:9 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on Paul's prayer for the church.

1 Thessalonians 3:9 Verse-by-Verse Commentary1 Thes 3:9 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight

A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice on the passage.

Background & Word Study

1 Thessalonians 3:9 Interlinear1 Thes 3:9 Interlinear BibleHub

The Greek of the passage word by word with parsing and lexical helps.

1 Thessalonians Overview1 Thes Overview BibleProject

An animated overview of Paul's letter and the young church it addresses.

The Church Fathers

1 Thessalonians 3 (Catena)1 Thes 3 (Catena) Catena

Patristic comments verse by verse on Paul's longing and his prayer for love to abound.

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