Note 4 at 1 Th. 2:4: Certainly one of the reasons the Lord had entrusted the preaching of the gospel to Paul was because he was not afraid of men. If Paul had been afraid of men, he would have compromised the gospel for the sake of self preservation. That would have lessened the power of the gospel and prevented men from being saved (Rom. 1:16).

Likewise today, the Lord has not called us to please men but to please Him who has called us. A true minister of the gospel is faithful to the Lord, regardless of the reactions of men.

Note 5 at 1 Th. 2:4: It's hard for us to know the true motives of a person's heart because we tend to look only on the actions of men (1 Sam. 16:7). However, God looks on the heart, or the motives behind our actions. Surely, there have been ministers who by the world's standards were very successful, but who will be exposed as frauds when the Lord reveals the true motives of the heart.