1 Thessalonians 1:3
Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father; Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;
The chapter containing this verse gives a lesson to individual church members and shows that the apostles were laborers together with God. It expresses thanksgiving to God for believers who had turned from idols to serve the living God, whose conversion gave reason for thanksgiving and praise. Faith is shown in work, love in labor, and hope in patient endurance. The Thessalonians' faith was active in good work, their love led them to labor, and their hope, centered in and grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ, enabled them to endure patiently.
Paul continually remembered this faithful service and these qualities before God the Father. The labour of love springs from the work of faith, as the fruits of living union with Jesus Christ. Faith that unites the soul to Christ stirs the soul to activity, so genuine faith is not idle but works, and Bible religion means constant work. Busy activities in themselves do not insure salvation, yet saving faith always produces active labor in good works. Salvation is not merely baptism, church membership, or preaching the truth, but a renewed heart that does Christ's works in faith, loving labor, patience, meekness, and hope.
Everyone united to Christ becomes a living missionary, laboring for people near and far and working for the strength of the whole cause rather than a single branch. Faith, love, hope, and patience must be visible in the lives of God's children. They are expressed in obedience to God's commandments and in Christian courtesy, with the Holy Spirit quickening believers so they can reveal Christ living in them. Faithful service for others is the work of faith and labor of love, done through Christ's grace and not through personal merit. Even the best work remains a duty rather than a basis for claiming reward, yet God fulfills His promises and rewards people according to their deeds, with the future reward proportionate to present work of faith and labor of love.
The patience of hope is cheerful perseverance through trials in loving labor for God, sustained by hope in Christ's return and the promised inheritance of the saints.