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Thank You for People!
Paul's letters to the various congregations he nurtured show a deep appreciation for people. Some might argue that Paul was simply sticking to the literary conventions of letter writing and that showing appreciation was a good way to build rapport with his audience.
But I believe there is more to his thanksgiving than simple convention. If we look at his expressions of thanks, there is a depth, diversity and richness:
- He talks about a "clear conscience" as he talks about giving thanks for Timothy. (He's indicating his sincerity)
- He combines thanks and prayer. (2 Timothy, Colossians, Ephesians and Thessalonians)
- He talks about thankfulness as an ongoing attitude. (He uses phrases like "constantly", "always", "every time" and "not stopped" to express gratitude as a state of mind.)
- In at least some instances Paul's thanksgiving is expressed in corporate prayer.
- Paul will often go on to explain the reasons for his gratitude. We see this in Romans, Thessalonians, Philippians, Colossians and 2 Timothy.
This reveals Paul as a person who sincerely had a heart for people. They weren't notches on his belt or statistics in his campaign. They were real people whom he carried in his heart, prayed for and valued. He longed to see God at work in their lives and saw what God was already doing.
Do we see people with the same level of love, prayer and gratitude as Paul does?
About this Plan
This plan deals with Thanks-giving. I was tempted to call the series "An Attitude of Gratitude" but there is something about the idea of Giving Thanks that appeals to me. Gratitude and Thankfulness are not limited to emotions that we experience from time to time, but are choices we make and gifts that we give.
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