In 1 Thess. 4:1-2, Paul moves from narrative to exhortation.
He begins with a very general exhortation before he proceeds to the specifics of Christian ethics. For Paul, "pleasing God" is the guiding principle of all Christian behavior. No one can claim to be born again and to love God if they do not also seek to please him.
What's interesting to me here is the fact that, although Paul begins with a fairly mild tone -- "we ask and urge you," what follows are not mere suggestions. What he requests and urges are "commandments" of the Lord Jesus that "must" (Greek dei) be carried out.
Some translations like the NIV leave this verb out completely. As a result, Paul's "urging" loses its force. So let's see how other translations fare in this regard:
NIV: how to live
ASV: how you ought to walk and please God
CSB: how you should live and please God
GNT: how you should live
LBLA: en que debéis andar y agradar
HOF: wir ihr leben sollt
LUTH: wie ihr solltet wandeln und Gott gefallen
SCH: wie ihr wandeln und Gott gefallen sollt
LSG: vous devez vous conduire
HWP: how you guys suppose to live
VG: quomodo oporteat vos ambulare et placere Deo
This is the sort of teaching on which we ought to mediate in depth if we are really serious in our effort to understand the kind of obedience the gospel calls for. Only as we understand the general nature of Christian living as an obligation will we be able to move on to examine the more concrete tasks to which Paul instructs the church in the rest of chapters 4 and 5.