I hope your Thanksgiving week is a blessed one!
Philippians 1:3-11 3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.
Paul teaches us how to express our thanksgiving for those we love in the passage above. Here are the main points:
Express your thanksgiving by praying for them. Paul let his friends know they had a place in his prayer life. He didn’t just thank God for his friends and ministry partners, but he also prayed strategically for them. He wanted them to experience life at its best (verse 10). He wanted them to experience more and more love in their lives, more and more knowledge in their lives. He wanted them to go on and be transformed into people who lived pure and blameless lives. He wanted their lives to overflow with righteousness.
Express your thanksgiving by encouraging them. Paul said in verse 6, “I don’t know where you are in your current walk with Christ, but I know this: God will finish what He has started in you.” Isn’t it awesome when you hear words from a friend that convince you that you are going to make it?
Express your thanksgiving by sharing your emotions with them. Paul said this about his friends in the Philippian church in verse 7: “It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart.” God has designed us with the capacity to feel. People can be transformed when they hear how much we care about them, that we love them and are grateful God has given them to us as friends.
Express your thanksgiving by taking time for them. In verse 8 Paul was expressing that he wished he could see his friends and spend time with them. Writing from a jail cell made that impossible. Spending quality time with people we are thankful for is so important. If you are truly thankful for your friends and family you will make time for them to demonstrate that, especially during this holiday season.
This Thanksgiving, like the Apostle Paul, let me say, “I am thankful for you.”
