Passage
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
1 Thessalonians 4:12 so that you will walk properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
The verse centers on "want", "uninformed", "brothers", "asleep", "grieve", "rest", and "hope". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "want" and "uninformed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 12's "so that you will walk properly toward..." into verse 14's "For if we believe that Jesus died...", so "want" and "uninformed" belong inside that flow. In 1 Thessalonians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "want" and "uninformed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.