Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Corinthians 1:4

"I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;" — 1 Corinthians 1:4 (ASV)

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

That is wisely written, for Paul was about to upbraid these Corinthians for many serious faults, yet he begins by acknowledging that they had certain excellences. It gives you a ground to stand upon if you are willing to see all that is good in those whom you have to rebuke.

But Paul did not merely use this as a polite way of beginning his epistle; he really did thank God every day for the grace which these Corinthians had. Yet how seldom do we thank God for the grace that He has given to other people, especially if they outshine us, if they do more for the cause of God than we do. Then, we half regret that they have so much grace, but it was not so with Paul.

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

It is something to be thankful for God's goodness to yourself, but it is a higher virtue to be thankful for God's goodness to others.

How grateful we might be all day long if we had a quick eye to see the grace of God in our fellow Christians, and if we blessed God for it whenever we saw it! There are some whose eye is much quicker to see imperfections than to see graces; it is a pity to have such a jaundiced eye as that. May we have a good, sound, clear, gracious eye, which will see all the good there is in our fellow believers; and may we then ascribe it all to God, and bless and praise him for it!