2 Thessalonians 1:1-12: a reflection

1Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the assembly of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers, even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you toward one another abounds, 4so that we ourselves boast about you in the assemblies of God for your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions which you endure. 5This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God’s Kingdom, for which you also suffer. 6For it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you, 7and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 8punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus, 9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. 11To this end we also pray always for you that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire of goodness and work of faith with power, 12that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul writes to the Thessalonians with thanksgiving, and notice what he gives thanks for: We give thanks to God always for you, because your faith grows abundantly, and the love of every one of you toward one another is increasing, so that we boast about your perseverance and faith in all your persecutions and afflictions. Their faith and love were not merely surviving under persecution and affliction; they were growing, increasing, abundant, even in the midst of suffering. Their afflictions had deepened rather than diminished their faith.

Notice what Paul commends: faith and love growing under affliction. The Thessalonians were suffering persecution and affliction; and yet their faith was growing abundantly, their love increasing. The suffering had not diminished or destroyed their faith and love, but, remarkably, they were growing in the midst of it. Affliction had become, for them, not a killing frost, but soil in which faith and love deepened and grew. Their faith and love flourished under the very affliction that might have withered them.

That is worth taking to heart, for affliction can either diminish or deepen our faith, and we are called to let it deepen. Suffering and affliction can wither our faith and love, if we let them; or, as with the Thessalonians, they can become soil in which faith and love grow, deepening rather than diminishing them. When affliction comes, do not let it wither your faith and love; let it deepen them, as the Thessalonians' faith and love grew under their persecutions. Affliction need not diminish faith; it can deepen it, as it deepened theirs. Let your afflictions become soil in which your faith and love grow, rather than a frost that withers them; cling to God through them, that your faith and love may deepen and increase, as the Thessalonians' faith and love grew abundantly under their afflictions, drawing Paul's thanksgiving. Let suffering deepen your faith and love, rather than diminish them, growing in the midst of affliction, as they grew.

Lord, Paul writes to the Thessalonians with thanksgiving, giving thanks that their faith grows abundantly, and their love toward one another increases, so that he boasts of their perseverance and faith in all their persecutions and afflictions. Their faith and love were not merely surviving under persecution; they were growing, even in the midst of suffering. Show me what Paul commends: faith and love growing under affliction. The suffering had not diminished their faith and love, but, remarkably, they were growing in the midst of it. Affliction had become, for them, not a killing frost, but soil in which faith and love deepened. Take that to my heart, for affliction can either diminish or deepen my faith, and I am called to let it deepen. Suffering can wither my faith and love, if I let it; or, as with the Thessalonians, it can become soil in which faith and love grow. When affliction comes, keep me from letting it wither my faith and love; help me let it deepen them, as the Thessalonians' faith and love grew under their persecutions. Affliction need not diminish faith; it can deepen it. Let my afflictions become soil in which my faith and love grow, rather than a frost that withers them; help me cling to you through them, Lord, that my faith and love may deepen and increase, as the Thessalonians' grew under their afflictions. Let my suffering deepen my faith and love, rather than diminish them.