40 Reasons to Be Thankful for Pastors

No pastor is perfect.

Some pastors have given the title a bad name. But for the most part, from my experience, the majority of pastors I have met are sincerely doing their best to follow Jesus and remain faithful to their call.

For that, we owe them our gratitude.

Just think about all the ways that your pastor—and probably more than just one pastor—has influenced your life.

Reflecting on this, I came up with the following list of 40 reasons I think we should be thankful for pastors today.

40 Reasons You Should Be Thankful for Pastors

1. Most pastors could be making more money doing something else, but they choose to serve the church instead.
2. Pastors will do almost anything to help you.
3. Pastors want nothing more than to help you grow in your relationship with Christ.
4. Pastors are almost always on call, and sacrifice a lot of their “free time” to help people.
5. Pastors faithfully study Scripture so they can teach you what they learn.
6. Pastors continually remind you of the Gospel, which we can so quickly forget.
7. Pastors face a level of spiritual warfare that most will never understand.
8. Pastors put up with all of your junk, listen to your problems, and love you anyway.
9. Pastors love people who are hard to love (and you might be one of them).
10. Pastors do the dirty work you may never see—things like cleaning toilets, changing light bulbs, stacking chairs, scrubbing the baptistry, vacuuming the carpet, or mowing the lawn.
11. Pastors pray for you.
12. Pastors help point your family and friends to Jesus.
13. Pastors perform weddings. A pastor likely either did or will do yours.
14. Pastors perform funerals. One day, a pastor will probably do yours.
15. Pastors baptize people. One may have baptized you.
16. Pastors work hard to build the community in the church that you enjoy being part of.
17. Pastors visit people in the hospital.
18. Pastors generously give their money, time, and energy to help people in countries around the world.
19. Pastors make the unpopular decisions that it often takes to move a stubborn church forward.
20. Pastors help your faith, relationships, finances, and more by teaching you Biblical principles.
21. Pastors lead people to Christ. One probably was influential in leading you to Christ.
22. Pastors answer your calls, emails, and texts even after their office hours are over.
23. Pastors serve orphans, widows, the homeless, and the poor.
24. Pastors write books, articles, emails, and blog posts that have probably impacted your life.
25. Pastors do it all for the Glory of God.
26. Pastors coordinate community service projects and events.
27. Pastors organize small groups.
28. Pastors run children, student, men, women, recovery, counseling, and many other incredible ministries.
29. Pastors push you out of your comfort zone to be all that God created you to be.
30. Pastors welcome you back to church no matter how long you have been away.
31. Pastors work hard to remember everyone’s name, face, and story—even in large churches.
32. Pastors will celebrate your wins.
33. Pastors will help you in your failures.
34. Pastors don’t just tell you what they think; they open the Bible to show you what God thinks.
35. Pastors remain faithful to God’s Word, no matter how unpopular these beliefs may be.
36. Pastors will do their best to answer any of your questions.
37. Pastors often move away from their friends, family, and hometown to serve people they have never met in places they have only visited briefly.
38. Pastors often think about quitting because the job is too demanding, but find the courage to persevere.
39. Pastors continue to believe in people even when everyone else has given up on them. You may have been one of them.
40. Pastors do not work to make much of themselves but to make much of Jesus.

Why Are You Thankful for Pastors?

Let’s be honest; pastors hear a lot more criticism than praise. They don’t work for your applause, but they rarely get thanked enough.

A little encouragement and a sincere “Thank you!” can go a long way.

If you are reading this, there is a good chance that there is a pastor who has made a significant difference in your life.

So take a moment to share this with them and let them know how thankful you are for their service to the church.