Philippians 1:3

Of the letters that Paul wrote, six were written from prison. It is an astonishing thought to think of how much of Paul’s writing ministry took place in jail. He wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Hebrews (if Paul wrote Hebrews), and II Timothy while incarcerated. Paul would not let himself give way to self-pity. As a result we have this jubilant letter of joy.

1:3 begins the body of the letter, since verses 1 and 2 were the salutation. This paragraph runs from verse 3 to 11, Paul’s prayer for the saints.

Paul begins his prayer with thanksgiving. Whenever a group is worthy of his thanks he begins this way. There is only one group of churches for which Paul does not thank God–the Galatians. He just could not bring himself to thank God for them because of their doctrinal error.

“upon every remembrance of you”

“Every time I remember you, every time I think of you, I thank God.” Paul’s capacity for thanks was vast. Paul and the Philippians were separated by hundreds of miles and for a number of years, yet his faculty for thanking God for them remained. The Philippians must have been a wonderful church with a great testimony, to impress Paul so. It would be a wonderful thing for other people to say of us, “I thank God for that person. I thank God that I met those people; what a blessing they have been to me.”

However, many of us have a testimony whereby people say, “I don’t know what I did to have that person come across my path! I thank God that I can forget that person!” Every believer is a blessing or a curse, a wing or a weight, an asset or a liability. We either help people in their Christian life or hinder them.

Remembering brought no regrets for Paul; he had only blessed memories. Do you have a capacity to give thanks? Do you thank God for your church? Do you thank God for individuals in your church?

“Upon” does not mean “at.” Paul does not thank God at every remembrance of the Philippians. It means “on the basis of.” That is, the Philippians form the basis for Paul’s thanksgiving.

There were unpleasant memories in Philippi if Paul cared to dwell on them–the rage of the masters of the girl set free from demons, and the conduct of the city officials and populace toward Paul. Currently two women were locked in a bitter battle (4:2). Paul chose not to remember the petty irritations. Gratitude springs out of what we choose to think about. A common fault of the believer is to fail to thank God for the common courtesies and favors of life.

“Every remembrance of you.” The Greek indicates that Paul thanked God for his entire connection with the Philippians.