1 Thessalonians 2:20

For ye are our glory and our joy. [Paul also calls the Philippians his joy and crown (Philippians 4:1), and expresses, as here, a hope of glorying hereafter both in them and in the Corinthians (Philippians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 1:14). Paul usually employs the word "crown" in a figurative sense, the figure being derived from the wreath or chaplets worn by athletes in the Grecian games (1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Timothy 4:7-8), and it is fair to suppose that he does so here. The full thought, then, is this: As an athlete, who, in the absence of his king, had entered the contest, competed for, and won the crown, would, on the king's appearing, rejoice to lay his trophy at the king's feet; so Paul, having won the Thessalonians for Christ, hoped that he might joyfully present them to Christ at his coming. The passage is a beautiful but effectual rebuke to the idle fears of some Christians that they will not recognize their friends in the hereafter. If Paul could not recognize the Thessalonians, how could he present them as his crown, or glory in them ?]