Even so, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you had become very dear to us.
because ye were dear unto us: Having already mentioned his yearning affection, Paul reinforces his feeling for them by saying "you became beloved to us." Paul’s feeling toward the Thessalonians is like that of God for his Son, the same word being used of both (Matthew 3:17).