Holy Submission
"And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 1:6 NKJV)
Affliction can make or mar a man, depending the response of the heart to its call for submission. The Thessalonian believers have a reasonable taste of affliction that queried their loyalty to the Lord, through the consistent joy of the Holy Spirit. Following the submission of the Apostles, they demonstrated that what matter most is not the affliction that seek to bend us, but the self that readily bend to the pain of affliction. Total submission to the Lord takes away the option of being ruled or corrupted by any other beside Him. After all, a sold out soul is sacred to his redeemer and incapable of been undersold.