We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people. (Colossians 1:3-4)
If your pastor were to say a prayer of thanks to God for you, what would he thank God for? Hopefully that’s not a strange question. God encourages pastors to pray for their people. Paul gave thanks to God for the Christians in Colossae. If your pastor were to thank God for you, what would he thank God for?
Maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t have a pastor. I don’t have church.” Wouldn’t that be a good thing? To have a spiritual shepherd who would care for your soul and pray to God for you? Wouldn’t it be a good thing to be part of a family of Christians who bear each other’s burdens? If you don’t have a pastor, pray for God’s guidance and seek out a Christian church, so that you can have a pastor who thanks God for you.
For what? There are a lot of special things about you. God has given you a lot of different gifts and abilities. But for your pastor, there are two things that especially stand out. Not your athletic abilities, not your timely jokes in church meetings, not the fashionable clothes you wear to church on Sundays.
It’s this: “Because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people.” There is no greater blessing to a pastor than people who are filled with faith in Christ Jesus and love for all God’s people.
They go hand in hand, don’t they? Faith and love. Faith always comes first. Notice that faith has an object. Faith never exists on its own. It’s always faith “in”… Faith in what? Faith in Christ Jesus. When a pastor see his people’s faith in Christ Jesus as their Savior, it warms his heart.
Because faith always leads to love. Love for whom? “Love for all God’s people.” After faith in Christ Jesus, there is nothing more beautiful in a Christian church than to see Christians show their love for each other—and for everyone else too. Christian love doesn’t pick and choose whom it loves.
Faith in Christ Jesus and love for all God’s people—there’s nothing better to thank our God for!
Dear Father, fill our hearts with faith in Christ Jesus and love for all God’s people. Bless our church, our pastor, and our brothers and sisters in Christ. May our faith and love be evident to all. Amen.
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