Philippians 1:3 Meaning of I Thank My God Every Time I Remember You

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

Explanation and Commentary of Philippians 1:3

The Philippian church was one of the first churches that Paul planted. The events around the birth of this church were dramatic. They began with the vision of the man from Macedonia beckoning Paul and his companions to come to them. Paul was persecuted for casting a fortune-telling demon out of a young girl, and after being thrown in jail, through a miracle converted the jailer and his whole family (Acts 16). After Paul left Philippi, the church continued to grow strong and mature, and they became a helpful resource for prayer, personnel, and material help. Paul held them gratefully in his heart all the days of his life.

When God said in Genesis 2:18 that “it is not good for the man to be alone,” he did not only have in mind the wife he would make him, but also human relationships in general. God, a being of three persons in perfect unity, made us in his image (Gen 1:26) and designed us for relationships. Good, godly friends and relations are one of his greatest gifts to us, and a sign of his love for us. While it is tempting and easy to build friendships on purely psychological/emotional grounds, the truest relationships are Christ-centered, that is, built on our common faith, and a Christian way of relating to others as brothers and sisters. Paul cannot think of the Philippians without reminding God how thankful he is for them.

This is also a reminder that we would do well to remember to thank God for our Christian friends. This is a sure way to a sense of well-being, a feeling of togetherness, a growth in love for our friends, and sign to God that we can be entrusted with more and even closer friends. In this way, we can even benefit from friends who are far away from us. Paul most likely wrote this from Rome, a forty-day journey from his dear friends at Philippi.

Breaking Down the Key Parts of Philippians 1:3

#1 “I thank my God…”
The Christian is called to constant thankfulness. In this way, we do justice to the one who gives us all things and show him we’d like more of it. We also train ourselves in this way to remember that we have nothing that is not provided by our generous Father in heaven.

#2 “…every time I remember you.”
This is a good goal. Rather than being content to be thankful in some circumstances, and in this case, for our friends some of the time, we should aim for constant thanksgiving. Few disciplines will train a disposition so well as the discipline of thankfulness. Even when one feels a sense of poverty, thanking God for the little we have seems to change the course of our lives and increase our lot more than anything else we could do.

Bible Study on Philippians 1:3

Expert Overview of Philippians

Biblical Translations of Philippians 1:3

NIV
I thank my God every time I remember you.

NLT
Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.

ESV
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.

KJV
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

NKJV
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.