Paul gave thanks to God for his readers frequently. He told them so to enable them to appreciate the fact that he knew of their situation and rejoiced in their good testimony.
1:3-4 Whenever Paul and Timothy prayed for the Colossians they gave thanks to God for them.13
"Paul could have meant that every time he prayed he remembered his various churches. Perhaps he maintained the Jewish practice of prayer three times a day (cf. Dan. 6:11; Acts 3:1; Didache8:3), or perhaps he used the long hours of travel and of work in stitching to hold his churches before God (see also on 1:9 and 4:2)."14
Specifically Paul and Timothy rejoiced over the continuing demonstration of their trust in Christ as contrasted with their initial acceptance of Him as their Savior.15Furthermore the Colossians manifested self-sacrificing love for other Christians.
1:5-6 Third, Paul gave thanks for the hope of blessings ahead that his readers possessed but had not yet experienced. They demonstrated their hope in their living by presently manifesting faith (v. 4) and love (v. 8). The Colossians had heard of this hope when they had heard the gospel preached to them. Paul reminded his readers that the gospel had not come to them exclusively but was spreading through the whole world. Paul may have intended this reference to contrast the gospel with the exclusive message the false teachers in Colosse were trying to get the Christians to adopt. Paul further glorified the gospel message by referring to its dynamic power to change lives and to its uniquely gracious content (v. 6).
1:7-8 Epaphras had evangelized the Colossians.16Since then he had come to Rome and was now ministering to the apostle during his first Roman imprisonment (v. 7; cf. 4:12). It appears that Epaphras' bondage was in God's will, not in jail, with Paul (cf. Phile. 23). He had given Paul a good report of the Colossian Christians even though false teachers were trying to make inroads into the church. Paul mentioned him here to pass along some good word about their father in the faith and to associate Epaphras with himself. He probably did this so his readers would realize that the founder of their church shared the views Paul presented in this letter. This would have made them more persuasive to the Colossians.
The Holy Spirit had created love for Paul in the Colossians.17
"As in the other Pauline letters, the themes and language of the thanksgiving are echoed in the rest of the letter . . ."18
