With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I want to examine the importance of being thankful. The apostle Paul stated this verse to the Church of Thessalonica in 1st Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Learning to be thankful is important because it helps us recognize and appreciate the fact of God is working in our lives. I say learning because being thankful is not natural to our flesh. We are born with a sense of selfishness in life revolving around us. We don't care if we wake up our mother or not when it comes to getting food. We cry out regardless, even if it's in the still of the night. Thus, having a thankful heart and attitude must be learned and developed. We do our children and grandchildren great harm if we don't teach them to be thankful either to us or to the Lord. They must learn that the Lord is their source in every situation, meaning they must be taught how to be thankful. It does not come natural. Lack of gratitude and thanksgiving can lead to a attitude of “entitlement” which can lead to “narcissism”; that is the idea that life revolves around me or around my ideology Not being thankful can lead to lawlessness in which my focus is only on me and thus, I lose the ability to be empathetic for others and their situations. Jesus said that this attitude would be characteristic in the last days in Matthew 24:12-13 (ESV)
And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
The thought here is that lawlessness leads to personal destruction. The result of this attitude is loss of love. This can lead to divorce in a marital sense and in broken relationships in a personal and corporate sense. Jesus Todd the exact opposite in the synoptic gospels. Loving and being thankful are synonymous in the Christian life. Look at the greatest and second greatest commandment in the gospel of Mark 12:30-31 (ESV)
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
When these two commandments become the central focus of our lives, it helps me endure in this lawless age which leads to salvation according to Matthew 2413. Endurance in the spirit Of Thanksgiving leads to life.
The Apostle Paul warned Timothy of the same conditions in the church in the last days in 2nd Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
It will take great strength that only comes from Holy Spirit endure and discernment to know how to avoid those which would drain you from life itself.
From a practical perspective, practicing gratitude can improve our overall well-being, strengthen relationships, and foster a more optimistic outlook. When we focus on what we have rather than what we lack, we become more resilient and better equipped to handle challenges.
Expressing gratitude not only strengthens our relationships, but it also fosters a positive outlook on life. When we take the time to acknowledge the good things, both big and small, it helps us appreciate what we have and brings a sense of contentment.
From a spiritual perspective, we realize God has a purpose for everything that He allows to come into our lives. He is disciplining us according to Hebrews 12 to be conformed into the image of His Son, “Every son He receives, He disciplines”. James the half-brother of Jesus said it this way in his letter to believers scattered throughout Asis because of persecution, James 1:2-8 (ESV)
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
Realizing that God uses everything, big and small to discipline me to be a mature son and to look like Jesus somehow gives me comfort and the ability to face trials with a new sense of joy and purpose. Even Jesus’ own Farher used trials to mature His Son in the natural and to prepare Him to endure the cross according to Hebrews 5:8
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
See what the writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus could endure the cross with joy because he understood his Father's purpose for it, to be the final offering for sin end all of mankind. Thus, we see that Thanksgiving becomes the foundation for my ability to worship God. It is through prerequisite for praise as it keeps my focus clearly on the one who saved me and provides for all of my needs.
The greatest worshipper in the scriptures King David wrote these words Psalm 100:4 (ESV)
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Let's conclude with this prayer. “Dear heavenly father, forgive us Lord when we forget to be thankful and when we develop an attitude even gratitude. Help us Lord to be thankful even in the smallest detail knowing that you are the ultimate source in our lives. We ask you Lord, to keep our eyes on you so that we can endure even the most difficult of trials knowing that you're using them to equip us and to train us into maturity. We love you Lord and we bless your holy name for your everlasting love. We will rely on it even as we endure to the end of the age, Amen”.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone, we love you!