1 Thessalonians 1:6
“And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →They imitated Paul and the Lord, receiving the message amid great trouble yet with Spirit-given joy.
What Does 1 Thessalonians 1:6 Mean?
These believers 'became followers,' literally imitators, of Paul and ultimately of the Lord Himself. They embraced the word even though doing so brought 'much affliction,' for faith in Christ cost them opposition from their own city. Yet alongside the suffering came a striking companion: 'joy of the Holy Ghost.'
This is one of the marks of genuine faith, joy that does not depend on circumstances. The trouble was real, but so was the gladness, and the gladness came from the Spirit, not from any easing of their trials. They followed the pattern set before them, and the pattern led, as it had for the Lord, through hardship rather than around it. To suffer for Christ and rejoice at the same time is no contradiction; it is the deep work of the Spirit, who supplies a joy the world cannot give and trouble cannot take.
In the Original Language
mimetes (μιμητής), 'followers' -- imitators, those who pattern their lives on another, the root behind the English word mimic.