Colossians 1:3

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

(v3, NIV)

It's interesting when Paul is thankful for those who he is writing to. In our human nature, it seems odd to be thankful for these people who are somehow messing up or doing something bad. These people aren't following Jesus as they should and Paul often needs to write these letters to help deal with these situations. For example, writing to the Corinthian church, he is thankful for them, but they have so many issues that Paul has to address so you wonder why Paul is thankful for these people who are simply messing up. He is includes thankfulness for those he is writing to in Romans and Philippians. Then again, we need to be reminded that we are all sinners and all fall short of the glory of God. It is also a beautiful thing the way God works in people and the encouragement and fellowship among believers is cause to be thankful for one another. In this particular instance, Paul is directing his thanks to God when praying for them. We can be thankful for one another and complement one another. These are good things and we should be building each other up. However, in the end, the thanks is to God. He is the one who deserves our praise. Be thankful to God and lift up your praises to him.