An Appropriate Thanks

Good morning,

I've been slow to get going today, but earlier this morning I was trying to encourage a friend who is experiencing "push-back" in ministry.  If you are doing God's work, opposition is pretty much a "given".  The Thessalonians were finding this to be true, in heaps and baskets-full.

Today, we begin our walk through 2 Thessalonians, having eaten our way through 1 Thess a few months ago.  In looking at the first four verses, we see that Paul begins his letter with his standard greeting and then launches into thanking God for this young church.

1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; 4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your [a]perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 

I know that this is an area in which I fall down.  I forget to thank the Lord for those precious people whom He has given to co-labor with me in "the faith".  Some of them are family and others feel like family because we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

When we thank God for someone and tell them so, we greatly encourage them.  Paul says that it is "fitting" (NASB), appropriate, that we thank God for each other.  I don't know about you, but I don't like to be singled out for "glory" when in a group of people.  I find it kind of embarrassing.  Not everyone is that way, of course, and there is nothing wrong with thanking God for people publicly.  Paul is thanking God for the Thessalonians in a letter, which is a public forum, because it is going to be read by not only them but by generations to come.

Additionally, in applying this principle to our own lives, a private word of thanks or a short hand-written card can mean so much!  God intends for us to comfort one another with uplifting words.  Yes, He can and does speak to each of His children through the Holy Spirit.  However, He also uses us to encourage one another.  This is something all of us need.  If the Lord brings to mind someone you need to thank, don't put it off!  Bless a brother or sister today!

Lord, I am so grateful for my friends and loved ones.  Thank you for them and for how they minister to others, including me.  Please bless them today, Father!  Enlarge their faith, and may their love for You burn ever stronger!  In Jesus' name, amen.