God has created us in such a way that our lives can give Him glory. St Thomas Aquinas affirms that God seeks His glory in our lives, not for His own sake but for our sake. The more we glorify God in our lives, the more worthy of the Kingdom do we become through God's grace. Thus Paul encourages the Thessalonians. Through our cooperation with God's power, the name of the Lord Jesus is glorified in us, and at the same time we are glorified in Jesus. Paul stresses the initiative of God. God is the source of our vocation and the source of the grace by which we can respond worthily to that vocation. Everything is the "gracious gift of God", but this does not make light of our cooperation. Paul praises the Thessalonians for their mutual love, their constancy, their fidelity in time of persecution. Salvation and glory belong to God, but we are called to announce this salvation and to proclaim God's glory to all the nations. This is part of the wonder of our religion: all comes from God, yet God invites and expects our cooperation. It is not legions of angels but we poor human beings who work with Jesus to establish the Kingdom of God.