Thanks for the Congregation

We know that thanksgiving to God is an important part of our corporate Christian living together. But another aspect of that crucial demeanor is the need to be thankful for one another, and to give ourselves to this as a spiritual exercise as a spiritual discipline.

The apostle Paul frequently thanks God for particular congregations. Here are two examples, one expression for the Colossians and the other for the Thessalonians. “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you” (Col. 1:3). “For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God” (1 Thess. 3:9).

Those congregations, like all congregations, had their challenges and their “situations.” But the apostle had learned not to consider any man after the flesh, and his constant goal was to present every man perfect in Jesus Christ. He thanked God for what He had done already, what He was currently doing, and what He was going to do.

And the more you give thanks in this way for what God has given you that is good, the more He gives you of that same good. This spiritual law works in both directions. The more you complain about your circumstances, the more you are given to complain about.

As I said, thanksgiving is a spiritual discipline. We need to practice it in our families, in our friendships, in our church connections, and so on. But I have frequently found, with regard to responsibilities and duties like this, that the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Called to honor my father and mother, I was also given a wonderful father and mother. Called to love my wife, I was given a lovely wife. And called to thank God for the congregation among whom I minister, I was given a congregation of steady, loyal, exuberant, generous, and hardworking saints. I thank God for you, and am extremely grateful for the blessing that will come to you as a result of your generosity. What a blessing you are.