“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.”
What are you thankful for?
I know that at thanksgiving dinner you probably sit around a dinner table with your family and list a few things that you’re thankful for. They probably include things that have to do with the people sitting around you, don’t they? “your family, your friends, your house, your food, your significant other.” I know this list. I’ve played this game.
Christians should be thankful people. We have lots to be thankful for. We have all those things I just listed, and then some. Paul picks up a couple of things that he is thankful for that sometimes I think we take for granted and shouldn’t.
Paul is thankful to God for the Colossians because of their faith and love. Paul goes on to say that their love and faith emanates from the hope that those people have in Jesus Christ.
It’s very easy to be thankful for our own things; they’re ours. It’s harder to be thankful for other people based on their stuff. That just seems weird. Paul is thankful for these other people because of what they have and how it benefits them. That’s a completely different view on things, isn’t it?
In essence, Paul is thankful that the Colossians are believers. He is thankful that they will spend eternity with Jesus. Paul is also thankful that these believers are showing faith and love because they believe.
Paul is thankful for somebody else’s situation in life. He could be jealous of it. He could be threatened by it. Instead, he is thankful for it.
Do you thank God for the belief and Christian attributes of others, even if they don’t somehow affect you? Christians should be thankful, even when it doesn’t benefit them.
Leaders know that being truly thankful is a sign that you love those whom you’re thankful for. This is the ultimate goal, of course; To love those who you lead and to appreciate them for what God has made them.
CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLE: Christians should be thankful not only of those things that benefit them but for people and what God has made them.
Here’s a set of verse for you to meditate on today: I Corinthians 1:4
Prayer: Father, make me thankful. Take the selfishness out of being thankful, and help me to be thankful of other people just for being what you have made them. Thank you, Father, Amen.
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