Colossians 1:3-8

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf and has made known to us your love in the Spirit.

-Colossians 1:3-8

Paul begins (after the introduction) by telling his readers that he is thankful to God for them.  I don't think he's ever met them before, so this may be weird news to them.  That's probably why Paul explains his reasons.  He's thankful because he has heard about their faith in Jesus and their love for the saints.  Next, Paul goes on to talk about the gospel.  But maybe I'll stop there.  This was meant to be brief and maybe I'll look at this passage some more next time.

What's cool to me is what excites Paul.  Paul hasn't met these people, but has only heard about their faith and love.  It is something that Paul thanks God for.  It's probably something that I should be thankful for.  So, why am I not more excited about these kinds of things?  I should care about it more than some of the silly worldly things that often occupy my mind.