We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. 2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)

Yesterday I was on-site with a client. I sat with four Customer Service agents walked through the criteria that we will use to analyze the quality of service they provide over the phone. The process requires us to ask, “What does good service sound like? What behaviors are evidence of a quality service experience?” By listening for evidence of these behaviors in the calls we analyze, we can determine how consistently our client’s customers are receiving a quality experience.

This morning as I read the reasons Paul gave for being thankful for the Jesus followers in Thessalonica I suddenly saw it through my vocational lens. “What is the behavioral criteria that points to doing a good job in my faith?” Paul gives two:

• Faith that continues to grow
• Love that continues to increase

This morning, I’m asking myself some hard questions. What evidence is there that my faith has grown over the past week, month, or year? In what ways has my active love of others tangibly increased during those same periods of time? To what can I point for substantiation of measurable growth?

I’m not sure I like the answers to my questions. Lord, have mercy on me. Some days I look at the path and realize just how far I have to go.