“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3). The Christians at Thessalonica were experiencing tremendous hardship when Paul sent a second letter to them. They were undergoing trials that threatened to break their faith. But despite these pressures, their commitment to Christ remained strong. That’s why Paul could say, “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more” (2 Thessalonians 1:3). These Christians were going through the most unbelievable, most intense persecution, and yet their incredible faith caused the apostle Paul to use a word that he never used anywhere else in all of his letters. It’s a Greek word that means “bound, compelled, obligated.” That’s how strongly the apostle felt about giving thanks to God for the Thessalonians. Paul was saying, in effect, “Your faith has […]