1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

Paul describes the Feelings he had towards the Thessalonians after he had left them.

This paragraph is remarkable chiefly as a manifestation of the ardent affection which Paul felt for his churches. It was with pain he absented himself from them, with difficulty he was prevented from returning, with delight that he looked forward to the time when he should be permitted to revisit them. And while absent from them, he was dependent for his happiness on the reception of good tidings of their continuance in faith, love, and patience. This tidings he received through Timothy, and in the joy of this good news his own sorrows and hardships were forgotten. He was thrown into an ecstasy of thankfulness and of love, and could find no words strong enough to express either his gratitude to God for their stedfastness or his earnest longing for their further progress, and that he himself might be the means of perfecting as he had been of beginning their faith.