Rather, “boasting,” or, “glorying.” In the day of triumph, Paul would be able to point to his converts with permissible pride, rejoicing that the Lord had used him in their salvation. Such sentiments, expressed by the apostle at this juncture, would have a twofold effect upon his readers:
(1) convince them of the sincerity of his love for them, and his desire to revisit them;
(2) encourage them to remain steadfast in spite of persecutions.
Here the apostle comes to the supreme reason for his longing to return to the Thessalonian believers. He lived in the hope of presenting his converts to the Lord Jesus as trophies of faithful ministry. His hope was not groundless, for he was aware of the fine quality of the Thessalonians’ Christian life (cf. on ch. 1:3, 4).