I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you. —Philippians 1:3
I have had some wonderful friends over the years. But there was always something unusual about my late friend Billy Webb. And it took me a while to figure out what was so special about him.
Billy had a terrific sense of humor. His stories, mostly about himself, are legendary. I loved to be with Billy, partly because he made me laugh. And even though I love to laugh, this isn’t the thing that so endeared me to this friend. I have lots of other friends who also make me laugh.
Billy Webb loved God and wanted to be a husband and father who honors Him. We talked many times about this dimension of our lives, but even that isn’t what is so important to me about this friend. I am blessed to have a number of friends who also want to be God’s man.
Billy Webb was an extraordinarily successful businessman. His record of victories had put him in the kind of fiscal condition that many men could only hope for. But that isn’t what was so important to me about this friend. A number of my friends have found success in the marketplace.
Then, one day, several years ago, it hit me. Billy was a handwritten thank-you-note man. From the first time we got together for lunch until our last outing before his untimely death, I always received something in the mail a few days later from him. It was not long and drawn out. In fact, it usually fit on one side of a four-by-six-inch card, but with these notes Billy said “thank you.” Even when he has picked up the tab for lunch, he thanks me for my time and for my friendship.
After receiving a few of these, I went out and bought my own thank-you cards so I could be a “Billy Webb” in the lives of other men, just like Billy has been in mine.
The apostle Paul was a “Billy Webb” kind of friend. He opened nearly every one of the thirteen letters we have in the New Testament with a thank-you. This letter to the church in Philippi is especially strong. “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,” he wrote (vv. 3–5).
Can you understand why Paul was so loved, why he was so important in the hearts of these Christians? Paul was a man who was thankful for them. Because he was a thank-you-note man, did this mean that Paul was a pushover? Not hardly. In his letters, Paul faced difficult issues with a vengeance. He called people to account for their deeds, gave them clear instructions on how to conduct themselves, and warned them of the direction in which they were headed. But somehow, they were able to hear what he had to say. Why? Because Paul was a man who always started with “thank you.” He was not afraid to let his friends know how thankful he was for them and how much he appreciated the good things they had done.
Are you a “Billy Webb” kind of thank-you-note man in the lives of your children and your wife? Don’t you think this is a good idea?1
It only takes a moment, but the dividends are astonishing. Try it. You’ll see.
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1 William V. B. Webb stepped into heaven in May 2017. By this time, I had moved to Florida and then to Michigan. One of the deep regrets of my life was that I didn’t take the time to drive to Nashville to say my final goodbye to this man and wish his Nancy my deepest condolences. Billy had meant so much to me. What was I thinking?