The letter to Philemon starts with Paul's customary greetings and blessings (Philemon 1:1-3). In these verses he is praising Philemon for all that he has heard, and praying thanks to God and blessings into the life of Philemon.
All of this is to prepare Philemon for the request he makes in the following verses (Philemon 1:8-16), which are the heart of this short letter. In these verses we find an example of how to approach difficult conversations and demonstration of the heart we should have for God's people.
Meaning of Philemon 1:4-5
Paul writes that he 'my God', which is not to say that there is a different God. Rather, Paul is writing that he 'thanks the God of me'; the one true God who is sovereign above all. He does so while thinking about them as he prays.
His reason to pray and give thanks is 'love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints.' Crucially, Paul is using the word 'you' in the second person singular: Paul is addressing Philemon directly and not the host of people mentioned throughout this letter.
As mentioned in my review of Philemon 1:1-3, the church in the house of Philemon appears to be the church of Colossae. Unsurprisingly, Paul compliments the church of Colossae with an almost identical phrase: 'your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints' which is a very similar praise as the one in these verses.
Meaning of Philemon 1:6
As well as giving thanks for Philemon's love and faith, Paul prays too that the sharing of Philemon's love and faith might be effectual.
It is worth noting that this passage is difficult to understand in the original language. As a result, the word translated by the ESV translators as 'and', could also be translated as 'so that'. Therefore the big idea that Paul builds for Philemon is one whereby his prayer of thanks leads into effective action.
Paul shares his prayer with Philemon before he petitions him to demonstrate this same love and fellowship to Onesimus, who is now a brother in Christ.
Meaning of Philemon 1:7
Paul's shares that it is out of a joy and comfort upon hearing of Philemon's love that he prays thanks and blessings for Philemon.
Undoubtedly the intention of this transparency is to encourage Philemon and ready him for the difficult task of forgiving Onesimus for theft, and for running away from Philemon.
Final Thoughts
These verses give us an insight into the love that Paul had upon hearing of another believers success, the same heart we should have for each other. We should be people of praise and thanks.
Much glory belongs to God, for he has saved each of us and brought us out of despair. The demonstration of love for the each other should be noticed, encouraged, and sought in prayer. Has somebody shown you or somebody else great love? Did you praise God for them? Have you prayed blessings into their lives for their kindness?
We can learn a lot from Paul's reaction in these verses and apply it to our lives, transforming us to be more like Christ.
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