5 Gifts Paul “Always” Thanked God For

When Paul expresses his thanks to God in the opening verses of Colossians, he says that he does so “always” (Col. 1:3). His gratitude, in other words, was not a temporary feeling but a consistent habit. Moreover, he was in no doubt about whom he should thank: “We always thank God.” The Lord, he acknowledges, is worthy of all the glory of gratitude, for He is ultimately responsible for everything good we receive.

These concepts are simple enough on their face. But as we attempt to follow Paul’s example of thanksgiving, we may find ourselves coming up short on the question “What, exactly, should I thank God for?”

Thankfully, Paul graciously sets an example for us in this respect as well. In Colossians 1:3–8, he thanks God for five specific gifts that we can take up in our own thanksgiving.

The Faith We Embrace

Paul thanks God first of all for the faith that the Colossians had embraced: “We heard of your faith in Christ Jesus” (v. 4).

Paul didn’t think of faith as natural to fallen humanity but rather as an indication of the supernatural activity of God’s Spirit within men and women’s lives. When we find ourselves embracing faith and think back down the road that led us there, we will ultimately think it back to God. No matter who may have been instrumental in leading us to the truth of the Gospel, we understand that it is God alone who ultimately draws us to Himself.

If we ever find ourselves saying, “Lord Jesus, why me?” as we look around the office, as we return to our school, as we move amongst our friends, we can understand that it happened in the mystery of God’s will. And for that He deserves our thanks.

The Love We Exhibit

Secondly, Paul thanks God for the love the Colossian believers were displaying alongside their faith: “We heard of … the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4).

The same grace and power that brings a believer into a relationship with Christ in heaven also brings him into a relationship with His people on earth. “Living in faith and living in love” ought to be an accurate description of any true believer. Faith devoid of love will eventually be nothing more than a stiff orthodoxy, and love minus faith will degenerate into mere sentimentality.

As with faith, love’s origin is found in God. The apostle John expresses it quite wonderfully in his first letter: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God” (1 John 4:7). By nature we find ourselves saying of our neighbors, “I don’t love them, because I don’t find them attractive. I don’t love being with them, because they don’t think the same way I do.” But the love that comes from God extends to “all the saints”—not to mention our enemies (Matt. 5:43–48)! When we see this love of God alive and at work among believers, we ought to thank Him.

The Hope We Encounter

Completing the familiar triad (1 Cor. 13:13), Paul next thanks God for the hope that the Colossian believers experienced: “… because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (v. 5).

The Christian’s hope is the motive power behind faith and love. It is not a vague optimism, like “I hope it doesn’t rain.” It is a confident assurance and expectancy of the many blessings that are still awaiting believers in the life to come.

God alone gives us such hope, since only God can make the promise of a heavenly home. The Colossians’ hope, Paul reminded them, didn’t depend upon their ability to maintain an optimistic face in the changing circumstances of life. Rather, hope for the believer rests in the unchanging character of God.  It is “kept in heaven” for us (1 Peter 1:4), reserved for our benefit, stemming from the word of truth that God has given us: “Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel” (Col. 1:5). Such Gospel hope is surely worthy of our gratitude.

The Growth the Church Experiences

As the Gospel brings hope, faith, and love, it thus bears fruit: “Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you” (vv. 5–6). This growth in the Gospel is another reason for praise to God.

Of course, each of us can thank God for the fruit we see in our own lives. That’s easy enough. But Paul goes further: He thanks God for the way the Gospel is advancing and saving men and women throughout the world. The expansion of the church, he reminds us, is the result of the power of God through the message of salvation. The Word of God has inherent power to bring forth fruit as it is placed in divinely prepared soil.

It is to our benefit as Christians to pay attention to the work of the Gospel happening at home and abroad so that we can thank God for it. God did not stop working after the apostolic age. Gospel ministry didn’t die with missionaries like Hudson Taylor or Jim Elliot. God is working today—and the testimonies of His work are there for us to hear so that we can offer Him our praise.

The Ministry We Enjoy

Finally, we ought to thank God for those who faithfully minister to us, like Epaphras did to the Colossian believers: “He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf” (v. 7).

Epaphras wrote no books of the Bible. His name is never mentioned outside of the Colossian context. Yet Paul called him “our beloved fellow servant” (v. 8) because he valued Epaphras’s partnership in the Gospel.

Epaphras was clearly a conscientious teacher. He exercised a ministry of the Word: “you heard it and understood … you learned it” (vv. 6–7). In other words, he had a teaching ministry. And what did he teach the Colossians about? “The grace of God in truth” (v. 6)—not the striving of men after religious improvement but the story of Christ, in His sheer goodness and mercy, undertaking for His own sake to make them His servants.

The ministers in our churches did not write the Bible. But when they proclaim it faithfully, presenting us with “the grace of God in truth,” they show themselves to be fellow servants with Paul and the apostles and faithful ministers of the Lord Jesus. That God has given such men to His church is a profound reason for thanksgiving as we come to Him in prayer.

“We Always Thank God”

When it’s unclear how we should pray, the Scriptures can often open the way for us. The Psalms do so. So does the Lord’s Prayer. But passages like Colossians 1:3–8 also give us wonderful templates for thanksgiving to God. Today, as you pray, consider thanking God for the five blessings Paul said he “always” thanked Him for—and see whether God uses your prayers to conform your heart’s desires to the gifts He so generously lavishes on His people.

This article was adapted from the sermon “Reasons for Thanksgiving” by Alistair Begg.