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1 Thessalonians 1:6-7
6 And [kai] ye [humeis] became [ginomai] followers [mimetes] of us, [hemon] and [kai] of the Lord, [kurios] having received [dechomai] the word [logos] in [en] much [polus] affliction, [thlipsis] with [meta] joy [chara] of the Holy [hagios] Ghost: [pneuma]
7 So [hoste] that ye [humas] were [ginomai] ensamples [tupos] to all [pas] that believe [pisteuo] in [en] Macedonia [Makedonia] and [kai] Achaia. [Achaia] KJV-Interlinear
6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. NASB
The believers in Thessalonica followed the pattern of teaching that comes from the Word of God. In so doing, they, in effect, imitate the pattern of life of Paul and those who were with him, and even of Jesus.
The Bible is called the mind of Christ. The Biblical principles of truth, are the pattern by which Christ lived his life in the First Advent, and for all of eternity for that matter. Truth never changes, it is immutable.
And since the Holy Spirit is the principle agent for the communication of truth, and since truth is the foundation for happiness, then the Holy Spirit is likewise the agent for happiness.
The Thessalonians lived through difficult times. Their story is found in Acts 17, where Paul set the city into an uproar by teaching doctrines different than what the Jews there had believed. The Jews of the region were typically anti-Christ, and still looking for their own deliverer.
After Paul arrived and taught grace and Christ, they rebelled and allied themselves with the unbelieving gentiles and together, rather than promoting Jewish traditional beliefs, used Caesar as their trump card against Paul and the Christians. They tried to set Christianity as an anti-Rome movement.
By implication, that opposition continued on for a while and herein Paul makes reference to their afflictions as a result of that opposition.
The region of Asia Minor was divided into two districts. The north (roughly Northern Greece-Turkey) was called Macedonia, whose capital was Thessalonica, and the region to the south was called Achaia (roughly Southern Greece-Turkey) whose capital was Corinth.
So, their name, the movement of Christianity, as well as their reputation and lifestyle was well known throughout the entire region. And this is noteworthy because at the writing of this letter, Christianity was relatively new to the region. The Cross had occurred only about twenty years earlier, and the news of Christ had already spread rapidly.
And more than that, there were not any New Testament scriptures in existence at that time. So the spread of Christianity was by word of mouth only, at a time in history where communication was certainly not like it is today. And making things even more difficult, there was a rebellious movement in the air, in Judah, to get rid of the Romans altogether. The Jews did not want the Romans, nor even the developing followers of Christ.
