Colossians 1:3
“We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Paul tells the Colossians that he and his companions thank God for them and pray for them constantly.
What Does Colossians 1:3 Mean?
Having greeted the church, Paul turns to thanksgiving, as he often does early in a letter. He had not met most of these believers, yet news of them moved him to gratitude directed upward, to God.
Notice where the thanks lands: not on the Colossians' achievements but on God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Their faith is treated as God's gift and God's work, something to praise him for. And the prayer is constant -- always -- a quiet picture of how Christians can carry one another even across great distance. To thank God for people is to see them as his handiwork rather than as projects of our own. Paul's affection here is prayerful before it is instructive, warming the whole letter that follows.