remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father.
He adds labor of love, by which he means that in the cultivation of love they had grudged no trouble or labor. And, assuredly, it is known by experience, how laborious love is. That age, however, more especially afforded to believers a manifold sphere of labor, if they were desirous to discharge the offices of love. The Church was marvelously pressed down by a great multitude of afflictions: (496) many were stripped of their wealth, many were fugitives from their country, many were thrown destitute of counsel, many were tender and weak. (497) The condition of almost all was involved. So many cases of distress did not allow love to be inactive. 