“We give thanks to God always for you all,
making mention of you in our prayers” (1 Thessalonians 1:2, NKJV)
Imagine writing to your son who has enlisted in the army. He’s always been a bit of a challenge and you are eager to see how the discipline of the military will affect him. You are more than pleased by what you survey. What might you say in your letter? You might begin by expressing your appreciation for the army and how your son is thriving in that environment. You might go on to note some of what you have observed in him.
Paul does something like that as he begins the body of his epistle to the Thessalonians. His focus is on God, His mercies to them, and His handiwork of grace in their lives. Certainly, these believers are worthy of commendation but the apostle knows full well that they are ultimately “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that [they] should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
It’s strange to give credit to someone else for something we have done, yet that’s the way it works when it comes to the outflow of the Christian life. We work out our salvation because it is God who is at work in us (Phil. 2:12-14). All we accomplish, God does for us (Is. 26:12). Paul gives the bottom line in another of his letters: “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Cor. 4:7).
We are the ones who believe, who engage, who seek, who obey, but these are outworkings of God’s grace and to Him belongs the glory. And so Paul begins by giving thanks to God. “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father” (1 Thess. 1:2–3).
We don’t want to miss that Paul opens his letter in prayer, not with a prayer but with a note of prayer. He prays at all times for all of the saints there. At letter’s close, he will urge each of us to do likewise: “pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:17–18).
Life is lived in communion with God. Ministry is carried out in dependence upon God. Every aspect of our lives is to be seasoned with thanksgiving, because our eyes are upon our God and our faith fixed on His sovereign, mighty, wise, purposeful handiwork in our lives.
Paul specifically takes note and makes mention of their work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in Christ. What are these things – faith, love, and hope? Paul mentions them elsewhere as a trilogy of grace (1 Cor. 13:13). They are animating features of the spiritual life in Christ, produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
To the church at Corinth, Paul emphasizes love because the church was rife with division and love was sorely needed for healing and wholeness. To the church at Thessalonica, Paul emphasizes hope because that was their pressing need. They needed to understand the nature of Christian hope that was theirs in Christ and that the world did not possess.
Here Paul speaks of the patience of hope. Hope endures. It perseveres. It exerts a longing that will not be disappointed. Holding fast the Christian hope will enable us to press on with thanksgiving and great expectation. We persevere because God preserves.
How do the graces of faith, love, and hope color your perspective and fuel your journey?
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
