A Life Worthy of Praise

1 Thessalonians 1:1–5 ESV

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. 2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, 3 remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

Opening Purpose (1)

To encourage believers to live gospel-shaped lives of faith, love, and hope while waiting for Christ’s return.

Faithful Waiting Means Faithfully Serving.

As we open the first epistle to the Thessalonians, I want us to begin by considering why Paul wrote this letter at all. In Acts 17, we learn that Paul’s time in Thessalonica was brief. He taught this young, growing church essential doctrine in a short window before being forced to leave.

Like many churches—then and now—they believed the gospel, but they still needed encouragement.

So Paul wrote to strengthen them, urging them to continue living gospel-shaped lives of faith, love, and hope while they waited for the return of Christ.

Proper Praise and Faithful Living (2-4)

Who doesn’t enjoy being thanked or receiving praise? Even those who claim they do not care about recognition often feel encouraged when their faithfulness is noticed. God has wired us to respond to affirmation.

But there is a danger here.

When the desire for recognition shifts from gratitude to self-glory, praise becomes a rival to God rather than a response to Him. We subtly move from living for God to living to be seen.

Scripture reminds us that proper praise is not sought—it is the byproduct of a God-glorifying life.

On a ranch, or most places, the best hand is often the one nobody talks about. He shows up early, stays late, fixes what’s broken, feeds what needs fed, and doesn’t wait around or seeks someone to say thank you.

The owner doesn’t need to brag on him every day—his work speaks for itself. And when things go wrong, that’s the man the owner trusts most.

He’s not working for applause. He’s working because the job matters—and because he’s been trusted with it.

This is why Paul’s commendation of the Thessalonian church matters so much. He praises them not because they demanded attention, but because their lives reflected the transforming power of the gospel. Paul gives thanks for their faith, love, and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ—not as abstract ideas, but as lived realities.

Their faith worked. Their love labored. Their hope endured.

Paul continually remembered them in prayer because the gospel was not merely believed among them—it was lived out. Their lives bore visible evidence that grace had taken root, peace had settled in, and the Spirit was at work with power and conviction.

And notice this carefully: Paul’s praise did not inflate their pride—it magnified God’s grace.

By doing this, the Thessalonian believers knew their faithfulness and power was in the Lord alone. Christ gives them hope and strengthens their faith as we see in verse 3.

We also see a powerful truth in the chosen you statement in verse 4. Chosen to what? Chosen to be the faithful followers in Thessalonica who work and serve faithfully while in the waiting.

They would suffer and struggle too, but their calling to be faithful and work well in Thessalonica was strength to move forward.

When we know that someone of importance selected us personally to do a job, we have more drive and desire to complete the calling.

When someone important personally asks you to handle a task—not because no one else would, but because they trust you—it changes how you approach the work.

You show up differently. You carry the responsibility differently. Even when the job is hard, you don’t quit easily because you know you were chosen on purpose.

That’s what Paul means when he reminds the Thessalonians that they are chosen. Not chosen for comfort—but chosen for faithfulness where God placed them.

This is the same with the Thessalonian believers, and guess what, this is true of us also. So, remember this when you serve and wait and feel forgotten, the suffering is high, your pain is real, you are struggling:

Living faithfully is praise enough—even when no one notices.

The Thessalonians were not living for applause. They were living in light of Christ’s return. They understood that God had already given them far more than they deserved in salvation. Any recognition from man paled in comparison to the grace they had received.

And faithful believers can live with confidence knowing this: genuine praise comes from the Father.

One day, every unseen act of obedience, every quiet act of love, every persevering step of faith will be met with words far greater than any human approval: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

So live in light of that praise—not human approval.

Faithful Waiting Defined

That brings us to the heart of Paul’s encouragement—and to something every believer struggles with: faithful waiting.

Faithful waiting is some of the hardest waiting there is. We want what we want, even when what we want is good. And when waiting stretches on, anxiety creeps in. We worry, fret, and struggle—not because God has failed, but because we have stopped waiting faithfully.

So what does faithful waiting actually mean?

Faithful waiting, according to Scripture, is not sitting idly and watching for when the Lord will act. It is active obedience—working by faith, laboring in love, and enduring in hope—while we await Christ’s return. It is stewarding the time God has given us to reach others with the gospel, trusting that the Lord is always at work, even when we cannot see immediate results.

When a doctor says healing will take time, the patient doesn’t just sit in a chair and wait for the calendar to change.

They do the therapy. They follow the plan. They keep showing up—even when progress feels slow.

The waiting is real, but so is the work. And skipping the work only delays the healing.

Faithful waiting in the Christian life works the same way.

Illustration: Faithful Waiting in Practice

Let me illustrate this.

William Carey went to India in 1793 believing Christ was worthy to be known among the nations. What many do not realize is that Carey waited seven years before seeing his first convert. During that time, he buried a child, endured illness, opposition, and long seasons of apparent silence from God.

But Carey did not treat waiting as inactivity.

While he waited, he learned languages, translated Scripture, preached faithfully, and labored for people who often rejected him. Late in life, when asked how he endured such long seasons with little visible fruit, Carey simply said:

“I can plod.”

Carey understood what Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 1:3—a faith that works, a love that labors, and a hope that endures. He waited for the Lord, not by watching the horizon, but by working faithfully in the time God had given him.

Faithful waiting is not sitting still and asking when God will act—it is trusting that God is at work and remaining faithful until He comes.

Waiting is not wasted when it’s filled with obedience.

What drove their faithful waiting beyond all this?

I believe it was because the Gospel they heard and believed came to them by more than just manmade words and actions.

The gospel came to them in power and full conviction.

There’s a difference between someone repeating instructions and someone speaking with authority.

You can hear advice all day and ignore it—but when someone speaks with real authority, it changes how you respond.

The gospel didn’t come to the Thessalonians as religious information. It came with the authority and power of God Himself through the Holy Spirit—and that’s why it changed them.

It truly was the Word of God, just as this Bible we have in front of us is His full Word. You can trust it fully and if you follow what it says inside, you will live faithfully in the wait also.

Power and Conviction (5)

The power behind the gospel was and is the Holy Spirit. Paul did not preach the word of truth to the people of Thessalonica by any manmade doctrine but from the Lord alone.

Galatians 1:11–12 tells us, “11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

That is the power and force behind the gospel that saved these believers and us. This is the powerful force that helps us wait faithfully and not passively.

Encouragement to the Church

This is exactly why Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers. He knew they were faithful—but he also knew the powerful pull of discouragement that comes while waiting. The enemy loves to whisper doubt during seasons of delay.

And we know that pull as well.

It is tempting to falter. It is tempting to let the waiting wear us down. But even in the waiting, we have hope—because our hope rests not in outcomes, timing, or recognition, but in Jesus Christ Himself.

So live faithfully. Serve Christ in love. Stand firm in hope.

Live today the way you want to be found when Christ returns. And be someone others are thankful for—not because you sought recognition, but because Christ is clearly seen in you.

We don’t wait for Christ by standing still—we wait by standing faithful.

Faithful waiting means faithfully serving.