2 Thessalonians 3:7
“For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Paul reminds them that they know how to imitate him and his companions, who did not live in idleness when they were among them.
What Does 2 Thessalonians 3:7 Mean?
Paul backs up his command with his own example. "Ye ought to follow us," he says, appealing to the pattern of life they had personally witnessed. He and his coworkers "behaved not ourselves disorderly," they were not idle or out of rank, when they lived among the Thessalonians. Paul does not ask of others what he was unwilling to do himself.
This is the integrity that gives a leader's words their force. Paul could correct the idle precisely because his own conduct had been diligent and orderly in plain view. The principle is enduring: those who would call others to faithfulness must first embody it. Example teaches more powerfully than instruction alone. Paul will go on to describe just how hard he worked, but already he establishes the foundation: he had earned the right to speak by the way he had lived. A watching church had seen a model worth following.