Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Thessalonians 3:5

"And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ." — 2 Thessalonians 3:5 (ASV)

And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God. So direct your hearts that you may love God.

And into the patient waiting for Christ. The marginal reading is patience of Christ. This reading is in accordance with the Greek and seems best to express the apostle's meaning.

The prayer of the apostle was that they might have the love of God in their hearts and "the patience of Christ;" that is, the same patience which Christ demonstrated in His trials.

They were then suffering affliction and persecution. They needed patience so that they might endure their trials in a proper manner.

It was natural for the apostle to refer them to the Savior, the great example of patience, and to pray that they might have the same patience He had. That it does not mean that they were to wait patiently for the appearing of Christ, as our translation seems to imply, is quite clear, because the apostle had just been showing them that He would not appear until after a long series of events had occurred.