Deeper Reflection
TIMOTHY WAS SENT TO THE THESSALONIANS TO “ESTABLISH and encourage” them in their faith (v.2). And now he had returned with “the good news of ” their “faith and love” (v.6). “Faith and love” together are “the sum total of godliness”³². “Faith” points to the vertical relationship with God, and “love” to the horizontal relationship among God’s people. Both dimensions of relationship are inextricably interlinked. Our fellowship with one another is in “our fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 1:3).Timothy also reported of the Thessalonians’ “pleasant memories” (v.6, NIV) of Paul. This meant a lot to Paul, as he was assured that his forced sudden departure from them did not leave behind a bad memory of him in them. The Thessalonians’ “pleasant memories” of Paul were more than mere warm feelings in their close relationship with him. A “good translation” for “pleasant memories” would be “maintain a recollection”³³. What did the Thessalonians recollect frequently about Paul? His life and ministry to them. The Thessalonians’ “pleasant memories” “refers to maintaining and practising a teacher’s model or pattern by a disciple, a dynamic that is strongly represented in this letter as well as in Hellenism and Judaism”³⁴. “A disciple continued to be guided by the exemplary life of his teacher in his absence by remembering him.”³⁵ So Paul is saying to the Thessalonians: “You maintain a good memory of us always and use that mental picture as a guide for your own actions.”³⁶ Ministering from the inside out can produce such “pleasant memories” in the people whom we influence.

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³² John R. W. Stott, Thessalonians, 66 – citing John Calvin ³³ Gary S. Shogren, 140 ³⁴ Gary S. Shogren, 140 ³⁵ Gary S. Shogren, 140 – citing Abraham J. Malherbe ³⁶ Gary S. Shogren, 140