I Thessalonians 1:6-8
You also became imitators of us and of the Lord ... so that you 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 Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth so that we have no need to say anything.
The Christians in Thessalonica had patterned their lives and thinking processes after Paul and his companions, as they in turn had imitated Christ, and that caused them to go forth with their love for God into other regions around them talking about the Word of the Lord. Their example of missionary fervor went before them even beyond where they actually went, prompting others to go from there to every other place also, so that Paul said that he and his companions didn't even need to say anything.
Is my faith toward God producing in me an imitation of Jesus, or am I still imitating the world around me, or other people who don't even know the Lord? And is my love for God prompting me to sound forth the Word of the Lord to all those whose life path crosses mine? How willing am I to go to where people have never yet heard of our God, to share His love with them?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
