Colossians 1:3–8 (ESV)
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because
of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among
you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and
has made known to us your love in the Spirit.
Notice how Paul begins by giving thanks to God when he prays for the Colossians. He is not criticizing or tearing
them down but giving thanks. Paul will move on to criticizing through teaching, but he begins by lifting them up through prayer and thanksgiving. How much more could we impact people around us if we made this our practice?
I pray: O Lord, help me to remember to give thanks and to lift people up… even when they need to be corrected. Amen.