Philippians 1:3 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

I was dwelling on this verse today. I started wondering what other options there are to feel when we remember people. We may not always feel THANKFUL.

Perhaps we might remember someone who has hurt us, or done something we have found hard. Can we thank God then?

Or maybe we think about someone who makes us feel inadequate. Their home-lives perfectly balance their work lives. They are immaculately ironed and presented. Their children know the whole of deuteronomy. They never get fined at the library. They are first to bake a pie when someone is ill, or first to remember a birthday.

Do we thank God for those kind of people??

What about those people who we find frustrating in some way? Perhaps those who exasperate us with their slowness or entrenched ideas.

The truth is, sometimes we are not thankful at all. We can be jealous, condescending, bitter, resentful, angry, dismissive, hurt or ambivalent towards others.

I find it challenging that Paul can honestly say he THANKS God EVERY time he remembers this group of people.

Perhaps there is room in your life and mine for more of that kind of spirit? More of that thankful, appreciative joy that doesn’t spring from inadequacy or fragility but from gratefulness and grace.

God, make me a woman of thankfulness today. As I remember your people make me see them as you do, not as I do. Help me to look deeper than the surface to what they show, to where You are at work. Teach me to thank You that You are working in them, just as You are working in me.

Amen