Theophylact of Ohrid, on 1Thess 1:3

“Being mindful of the work of your faith, and labour, and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father:”

“Not only, he says, do I remember you in prayers, but also at every other time. This is proof of his fervent love. That is, your steadfastness. For the essence of faith is to stand firm, and not merely to boast of faith in words. What labor is it to love? Simply to love is no labor; but to love truly is a great labor. For if someone endures all things for the sake of a beloved person, how is this not labor? And the Thessalonians indeed suffered much out of love for Paul, as can be seen from the book of Acts (Acts 17:5). Much, he says, you endured in prolonged trials, and you endured, sustained by hope. For with full conviction you believed in the rewards prepared: since God allowed them at the beginning to undergo trials so that no one would say that the preaching was established simply and by flattery, but so that it would be evident that what was at work here was not human persuasion, but the power of God, subduing souls. One can understand this in two ways: either remembering before God and our Father; or understanding "the work of faith" which is before God. So do not think that you labor in vain; on the contrary, everything is before God, and He will render the reward.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.