1 Thessalonians 1

This devotional is written by Matt Coombs.

Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace to you.

Thanksgiving for the Thessalonians’ faith
2 We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

4 For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead – Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (3)

Paul begins his letter to the Thessalonians by giving thanks for their faith, hope and love. Paul often uses these three virtues in his letters to other churches too (1 Cor 13:13, Gal 5:5-6, Eph 4:2-5, Col 1:4-5).

The order or flow of each virtue is important. For the Thessalonians: Faith produced work, love prompted labour and hope inspired endurance. This is how it should be.

Sometimes our worship, or service of others, even simply being the only Christian in our work place/playground/university can feel like a burden based on obligation. Working, labouring and enduring are exhausting when done in our own strength, when done as mere duty or obligation. There is nothing wrong, of course, with seeking to do the 'right thing' or the 'Christian thing', but it's better to do it with the right motivation as the Thessalonians have done.

We are to feed our faith with the plans and promises of God, and what we find is that faith naturally leads to action.

We are to see other people as God sees them, with deep compassion and labour prompted by God's love in our hearts for them.

We are to endure not out of stoic resolve, but inspired by the firm hope that God will eventually make all things new.

What are you motivated by? I'm often motivated by wanting to impress other people, or by simply trying to get ahead in life.

Paul gives thanks because he wants to affirm the good he sees in the Thessalonians.

Today is an opportunity to invite the Spirit to feed our faith, reveal God's compassion and kindness and help us to renew our confidence that Christ holds our lives, the world and eternity in his hands.