They praised God because of me is literally “they were glorifying God in me.” The preposition “in” is used here as indicating the reason or basis of an action (compare Knox “They praised God for what he had done in me,” Phillips “they thanked God for what had happened to me”). Because of me may be understood in terms of “what God had done to me,” “what God had done through me,” or “what I had done.” Since the praise was rendered to God for what Paul was at that time doing, it seems more satisfactory to say “they praised God because of what he had done through me,” or “… what God had caused me to do.”

Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .