⁹For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

Reputations rise and fall, and good ones are hard to come by. It takes only one ill-advised action, one socially contemptible sin, or one grievous offense to destroy one’s status or standing. When many today think of the Corinthian church, often what comes to mind is carnality, infighting, and spiritual pride. The Thessalonian church apparently had nothing of the negative sort attached to its reputation. In fact, Paul referred to the Thessalonian church and all its spin-off churches in Macedonia (as well as the church in Philippi) as examples of generosity when he later wrote back to the church at Corinth (2 Cor. 8:1–2), from where he is writing this letter to the Thessalonians.

But their reputation was not manufactured by the apostle; it came as a natural development of their commitment to live out their faith in a genuine way. He didn’t need to embellish or prop up their reputation. Paul had the good report from Timothy (1 Thess. 3:6), who, having spent extra time there, was in a good position to hear the talk in the region among the believers. It is entirely possible that Timothy had heard from the non-believers in the regions around Thessalonica as well, who, though not believing, would have been quite impressed with the changed behavior of the Christian converts. Remember the believers there were known not only for their faith, but also their “labor of love” (1 Thess. 1:3). The love of God they now enjoyed compelled them to share their faith with any and all who would listen. We would not be wrong to say that the ultimate action of love is to share the love of the God who gave His only begotten Son to die in the place of all who would believe.

In the midst of their persecution, the Thessalonian believers were faithfully sharing “the word of the Lord,” carrying on what began at Pentecost, when many “had received [Peter’s] word” regarding the ministry of the apostles (Acts 2:41). It was “the Word” that was the focus of the spread of Christianity. “[W]e will devote ourselves to … the ministry of the word” (Acts 6:4), Peter asserted. The inspired writer of Acts put it this way, “The word of God kept on spreading” (Acts 6:7). The focus was on the truth of God’s Word going out with power. Indeed the early believers, when persecuted, “went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). The success of the Great Commission was described this way: “[T]he Word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied” (Acts 12:24).

Lord, I commit to sharing Your Word with someone today.