“Give thanks in all circumstances,” Paul says (1 Thess. 5:18). Usually, our difficulty with this instruction is the words all circumstances. Most of us, after all, are not thankful in all circumstances.
But there’s another difficulty. We have different ideas than Paul about who and how to thank. The surprising thing is that, for as much as he gave thanks, Paul almost never thanked anyone directly in his letters. Only one time do we see him do this: Paul thanked Priscilla and Aquila because they risked their lives for him (Rom. 16:3–4). But that’s about it.
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