This Thanksgiving take some time to follow the inspired
example of the Apostle Paul and thank God for other Christians you know.
I found 14 Bible passages where Paul is giving thanks for
other Christians. Here they are. You should be able to place your cursor over
any of these and see it pop up:
Acts 28:15
Romans 1:8
Romans 6:17
1 Corinthians 1:4
Ephesians 1:15-16
Philippians 1:3
Colossians 1:3-4
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
1 Thessalonians 2:13
1 Thessalonians 3:9
2 Thessalonians 1:3
2 Thessalonians 2:13
2 Timothy 1:3
Philemon 1:4-5
Paul gives thanks to God for other Christians for many
reasons, including:
encouragement he receives from them
their faith serving as a testimony to God’s good work
their freedom from sin and obedience to God
their love
their partnership in the gospel, which included
supporting Paul
their hard work, labor, and endurance for the cause of
Christ
. . . and more
Paul gave thanks for specific Christians, for Christians
in churches he helped to start or helped to grow, and he even gave thanks for
Christians whom he had not personally met but only heard about.
In general, we thank God for other Christians because
every new Christian is evidence that God’s great plan is succeeding. We thank God for every Christian who is
growing in their faith because we see evidence of the Holy Spirit at work. We thank God for every believer because they
are a source of light and love in this world.
I want to follow Paul’s example and give thanks for other
Christians. I hope my example here will
encourage you to thank God for other Christians you know and hear about.
* I thank God for my parents and the Christians at
Montrose Baptist Church who helped lead me to the Lord when I was a child.
* I thank God for Pastor Jim Schneider and the huge way
God used him in my life during the time God was preparing Hope and I to serve
Him overseas. I also thank God for the
other dear brothers and sisters in Christ at Pleasant Valley who blessed Hope
and I in so many ways and helped us to grow.
* I thank God for David Finell, Bill Jones, and other
professors at CIU who helped train, equip, and prepare Hope and me for service
among an unreached people group.
* I thank God for our dear Indonesian brothers and
sisters in Christ whom we love so much.
I thank God for their courage, strength, and faith as they serve our
Lord and spread His truth in a difficult setting.
* I thank God for those who served alongside us in
Indonesia. I thank God for a couple now
living on the West Coast who were a source of constant encouragement to us and
many others through all sorts of difficulties.
I thank God for another couple whose many years of service in Southeast
Asia and perseverance through many trials has been an inspiration to myself and
many others.
* I thank God for all those Christians who gave some of
their own money to help support Hope and I and the work we are called to, both
during our years overseas and at the two churches we have served in since
returning.
* I thank God for some faithful believers who stood with
me through a very painful and difficult time at my previous church, and especially
for one brother in Christ who helps many people in many ways (he recently helped
fix a small hole in the roof of our house after the last big storm, and I have
seen him helping many people in similar ways).
* I thank God for the very supportive members of Severn Baptist
Church. I thank God for the way they use
their many gifts to serve both in and outside the church. I thank God for the “Women of Faith” who are
such an outstanding example of Christian love for one another.
* I thank God that He has blessed me with a brother who
is a brother and two sisters who are sisters.
Karen, Kim, and Craig are constant sources of encouragement and blessing
in my life.
* And of course I thank God for Hope and Joy! Being blessed with such a wonderful, godly, beautiful,
wife and daughter is a gift so valuable that I know it can only be a result of
God’s amazing grace!
The only downside to sharing my thanks to God for other
Christians in a list like the one above is that I cannot possibly include
everyone I am thankful for.
I have learned to follow Paul’s pattern. There is nothing at all wrong with thanking
other people directly when they help or bless us. But there is something even better: thanking God for other people and telling
them that we thank God for them. When we
thank God for other people, and let them know we thank God for them, they are
encouraged and God is glorified.
Happy Thanksgiving! (Today and throughout the year.)
Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .
