the Thessalonians faith and example

Ch. 1 Verse 3: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy write to the Thessalonians that they give thanks constantly for their "work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." Those are 3 beautiful elements...doing work of faith, laboring in love, and having steadfastness, unwaivering hope in JESUS.

work of faith = doing work of the Lord, doing work of your faith, your work being an outpouring of your faith, doing work for the sake of the name
labor of love = laboring for the sake of love, God IS love, doing labor for the sake of God, laboring in loving others and showing Christ's love
steadfastness of hope = unwaivering hope in Jesus, a hope that never fades or fails or falters, a hope that stays strong despite any circumstance

Paul & gang continue to write below, saying in verse 6-8: "And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with JOY and became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you not only in these places, but in every place your faith in God has become known, so that we have no need to speak about it."

Became imitators of us and the Lord = the Thessalonians saw what was good and imitated it; they became steadfast followers of Christ and followed Paul&gang's example. They also became imitators of the LORD...meaning they took on Christ-like attributes and imitated His examples of life and love
In spite of persecution received the word with Joy: despite anything they faced or any opposition, they continued to receive the word with Joy. I have realized that instead of finding joy despite your circumstances/outside of your circumstances, I need to find joy IN my circumstances...that the persecution can be joyful! It's a hard shift to make in my mind.
Became an example to all the believers: = these people became examples of Christ to all the BELIEVERS, meaning, they led people to Christ through imitating Him and they are now called believers of Christ.
In every place your faith is known: Not that their NAME is known...but their FAITH is known. They are famous/well known because of their faith. Not who they are, but their FAITH.

Let us become known because of our faith in Christ Jesus and because of the example we follow.