Thanksgiving/Gratitude

Be Thankful
Gratitude to God is essential, but not
only for the sake of the good things
that he bestows. The Christian is
called to be grateful and content not
just for what God gives but for who he
is.

Gratitude is a small thing that can

benefit you and others in a big way. So
many stressful things happen in
everyday life, whether conflicts with
family members, financial concerns, or
health problems. But thinking about
everything you have to be grateful for
—from the friends and family in your
life to the clothes on your back to the
food on your table—can help put those
challenges in perspective. And what
better
source to
seek

inspiration for gratitude than the Bible?

Practicing gratitude is not limited to verbal

expressions but also to a life committed to
cultivating a heart of thankfulness. It is not
just about counting blessings but
acknowledging the source of those blessings
— a gracious and loving God. As we heed
the call to gratitude, let us echo the words of
the psalmist: “Give thanks to the Lord, for
he is good; his love endures forever.” May
our lives be a testament to the
transformative power of gratitude, rooted in the unending grace of our
Creator.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all

circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Rejoice always.* Joy in Paul’s letters is a basic mark of the Christian
(Rom. 14:17) and a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is often associated
with the firm hope of the Christian (e.g., Rom. 5:2–5; 12:12 ). “Pray
without ceasing” suggests a mental attitude of prayerfulness, continual
personal fellowship with God, and consciousness of being in his
presence throughout each day. Christians are to be marked by
thanksgiving (Eph.
5:4, 20; Col. 2:7; 3:15, 17; 4:2). This
probably refers to all of 1 Thessalonians
5:16–18.
PSALM 103:1-4 Praise the LORD, my soul; all my
inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise the LORD, my
soul, and forget not all His benefits — who forgives all
your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your
life from the pit and crowns you with love and
compassion.

This is a hymn of praise, celebrating the

abundant goodness and love of the Lord for
his people.
Each member of the worshiping
congregation urges himself to bless the
LORD, i.e., to speak well of him for his
abundant generosity. Thus forget not all his
benefits is a crucial step in blessing the Lord, and the body of the psalm
lists these benefits in order to bring each singer to an admiring
gratitude.
ISAIAH 12:4-5 (NASB) And on that day you will
say, "Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name.
Make known His deeds among the peoples; make them
remember that His name is exalted." Praise the LORD
in song, for He has done glorious things; let this be
known throughout the earth.

1 CHRONICLES 16:34 (ESV) Oh give thanks

to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love
endures forever!

Lamentations 3:22–24 The

steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end; they
are new every morning;….
Have you ever felt like a “thank you” to God comes up short of expressing your true
appreciation for everything the Lord has done for you?

If we look at 1 Chronicles 16, specifically verses 8-36, we find “David’s Song of

Praise,” which provides a great framework we can use to show God how thankful we
really are.

This passage of Scripture shows us four

ways that we can express our gratitude to
God.

1. Remember what the Lord has

done and all the times He made a way
when it felt like there was no way.
2. Tell others about it. When God
provides for us, we should brag about
Him! We never know when God might
be using our answered prayers to
answer prayers for another one of His
children.
3. Share the Gospel. A great way to
show God our thanks is to be obedient
to His call for all believers to share His
life-saving message. As followers of
Jesus Christ, we have the cure to
death. Let’s get out there and share it!
4. Offer yourself as a living sacrifice. We
can give God our time, our energy, and our resources. He is delighted when
we give back to Him, no matter how big or small.
When we stop for a moment to look around and realize all God has done for us, how
can we not stop to praise Him? How can we not feel compelled to tell others about
His great and mighty deeds from long ago and now? How can we not share the love
of Christ with all we meet? How can we not want to offer ourselves to the Lord? Let’s
sing it out, let’s shout it out, and let’s praise the Lord!

“Let us come before him with

Thanksgiving and extol him
with music and song. For the
Lord is the great God, the great
king above all gods” (Psalm
95:2-3).
Regularly acknowledging and appreciating the good things in our lives can lead to a
multitude of benefits:

1. Increased Happiness: Taking note of what you're thankful for gives you a
more positive outlook on life, thus increasing overall happiness.
2. Reduced Depression: Gratitude makes you shift focus from negative thought
patterns, reducing symptoms of depression.
3. Improved Sleep: Practicing gratitude before bed can help create a peaceful
mind and improve sleep quality.
4. Stress Reduction: Recognizing what we are grateful for can help lower stress
levels by shifting our mindset towards positivity.
12 Benefits of Giving Thanks

1.Gratitude glorifies God.

This alone would be reason to give thanks to God. Our gratitude glorifies God as we exalt not the
gifts, but the Giver. Gratitude helps us realize all we have comes not because of us, but from God.
And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will
receive more and more glory. 2 Corinthians 4:15

2. Gratitude helps us see God.

Gratitude opens our spiritual eyes. There’s a beautiful cycle in giving God thanks: the more we thank
Him, the more we see Him working in us and around us. Gratitude helps us sense God’s presence,
His personal care and His perfect timing.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down
from the Father of the heavenly lights. James 1:16-17

3. Gratitude puts us squarely in God’s will.

We often make God’s will out to be some big, mystical plan when sometimes, it’s simply obedience.
And part of His will for us is to be thankful, not just on the sunny days but on the hard ones as well.

…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

4. Gratitude brings peace.

Count your blessings, not sheep we’re told to get rid of the worry keeping us up at night. Gratitude
helps us see that God’s hand is all over our circumstances. And God tells us when we give him our
thanks, He gives us supernatural peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

5. Gratitude draws us to God.

Gratitude for the magnitude of God’s undeserved kindness draws us to Him. We see that when Jesus
healed 10 lepers. As Jesus walked by, all 10 cried out for healing. “Go, show yourselves to the
priests,” Jesus commanded and as they went, they were healed! Fingers were restored and ulcers
disappeared as full sensation returned to their faces and limbs. Certainly they were all happy, but
only one was thankful. Only one came back to Jesus, fell as his feet and thanked him.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give
praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you
well.” Luke 17:17-19

6. Gratitude brings contentment.

It’s said that gratitude makes what we have enough. If we aren’t grateful for what God has given us,
getting more won’t satisfy us either. Being thankful is the key to contentment.

. . . godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and neither can
we carry anything out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 1
Timothy 6:6-8

7. Gratitude deepens faith.

Keeping a record of God’s past faithfulness is a faith boost when we face new difficulty. My gratitude
journals are testimonies that on my hardest days and in the worst circumstances, God’s record of
faithfulness is 100%. That’s why God commanded Israel to remember His great deeds.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1

8. Gratitude leads to joy.

The overflow of gratitude is joy. Realizing God’s abundant goodness, even in the hard, is a gateway
for joy. Psalms 126 shows this so clearly as the Hebrew exiles sang their thanks to God for bringing
them back to Israel. It’s a psalm I prayed in advance for years.

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were
filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. The Lord has done great things for us, and we are
filled with joy. Psalm 126:1-3

9. Gratitude defies Satan’s lies.

Satan is so wily! He whispers that God isn’t good; that He’s withholding good from us. But his
scheme’s as old as the garden of Eden, where he questioned Eve: “Did God really say, ‘You must not
eat from any tree in the garden’?” When Eve responded only the tree of good and evil was off-limits,
Satan suggested God was keeping good from them. “You will not certainly die. . . For God knows that
when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
In a garden that was perfect, that produced abundantly without work or weeding, where every
single plant but ONE had been given to Adam and Eve, Satan focused on the lack. True gratitude for
God and the abundance He gives protects us from caving to the enemy’s lies.

No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

10. Gratitude guards against envy.

Envy makes us want what someone else has. I mean, we deserve it! Gratitude makes us realize God
has given us far more than we deserve. Because there’s enough for everyone, we can cheer rather
than compare. A heart wholly grateful has no room left for envy.

I will give You thanks with all my heart; Psalm 138:1

11. Gratitude helps us live in the present.

“Wherever you are, be all there!” Jim Elliot famously said. But that’s difficult to do in the worry and
rush of life. Gratitude helps. Gratitude opens our eyes to the simple beauty of ordinary days. It lets
us see this day and this moment as gifts and to take in the abundance right now.

Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
Ecclesiastes 7:10

12. Gratitude is a testimony.

When we thank God openly and acknowledge what He’s done for us, we proclaim a personal, caring
God to the world around us. We show that contentment and peace come not from what we have
but Who we know.

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
Psalm 105:1

Developing a grateful heart brings incredible blessing. My only regret in keeping a daily gratitude
list? Not starting it sooner.

Want to access the power of gratitude? Go d