“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 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
There are some who prefer to take a “middle of the road” approach when it comes to a discussion of spiritual matters. For example, consider the following statement: “Everyone holds different beliefs. It really doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe in something.” While this philosophy may seem inclusive, there is a problem with this idea if we stop to examine it.
To illustrate that problem, we can look to the various dictators, tyrants, and despots who have come to power throughout the centuries. It is highly unlikely that any reasonable person would say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe in something” in evaluating such individuals. When viewed against the backdrop of a dictatorial ruler, the flaw in this ideology becomes clear- our intangible beliefs eventually lead to tangible actions. In the case of a tyrannical leader, the effect of his or her beliefs may negatively impact a region, a country, or even the entire world.
Let’s consider another illustration- the example of a person believes that life ends with the termination of our physical existence. For such individuals, that philosophy is certain to impact the decisions of life in many different ways. On the other hand, a person who believes in an afterlife and expects to give an account to God for his or her life will surely make different choices based on that underlying philosophy.
The two people in this second illustration are likely to follow different paths on the road of life because their internal beliefs guide, influence, and direct their external choices. The same was true of the Christians at Thessalonica as well. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 identifies those internal attitudes and their effect: “…your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (NIV).
So the internal qualities of faith, love, and hope led the members of the Thessalonian congregation to express those attributes in an externally positive manner. In other words, their faith, love and hope showed itself through their work, labor, and endurance. As one source comments, “These phrases denote Christian virtues in action: the work produced by faith, labor motivated by love, and endurance that stems from hope in Christ.'” (1)
(1) Notes taken from the NET Bible® footnotes, copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press L.L.C. All rights reserved. Used by permission from www.bible.org . https://netbible.org/bible/1+Thessalonians+1