You became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,
having received: This expression means to "welcome the message." "It is no mere intellectual acquiescence in the truth of the gospel; it is a complete transformation of behaviour through a close following of Christ and his apostles" (Stott 36). The Thessalonians do not just hear the word; they heed it.