1 Thessalonians 3:7 Commentary and Bible Study

The spiritual health of the Thessalonians is Paul’s heart theme. He is not interested in the furniture and provisions and his pay scale and his comfort and the location of his home and its beautiful outlook and his bank balance. He is concerned about them, and so he was so relieved to hear news. He is concerned about the flourishing and the application of their faith.Affliction, by the way, is what comes from outside, and distress is what operates us inside you. That is the distinction between the apostle’s terms – affliction is what hostile opponents did to him and distress was what he felt when he was anxious about the Thessalonians, and he heard about the Judaisers going round infiltrating the churches. And he was so anxious to hear about them and to help them.