We are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers,{The word for "brothers" here and where context allows may also be correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."} even as it is appropriate, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of each and every one of you towards one another abounds;
Since the faith of the Thessalonians is genuine, persecution does not tear them from the love of Christ but rather drives their roots of faith deeper into the foundation of Christianity, that foundation being the finished work of Jesus, His death, burial, resurrection and imminent return. Trials strengthen the Thessalonians instead of destroying them, and the same is true today in the lives of truly born again believers (John 3:1-5).