Being Grateful Every Day…For Christ5 min read

     During the Thanksgiving holidays, many people take the opportunity to express their thankfulness to others for the many things they appreciate about them, or for the things they do for them. This is good to do, and there have been many studies that confirm that grateful and thankful people are generally happier people; click here for one of them. Who wouldn’t want to be happier? But being able to thank people is only part of the blessing...

     We Christians have one person we should be thankful to, and thankful for: our Savior, Jesus Christ. We should be giving our God thanks every single day for sending His Son to atone for our sins. We should be thanking Him for who He is, and all that He has done in our lives. God is good, and God is love. Being grateful to Him should be a top priority in our lives—even after the Thanksgiving holidays.

Thanksgiving Is Important To God

     Did you know that the Bible uses derivatives of the word “thanks” or “thankful” over 200 times! It is clearly a very important principle to learn; it is important to God, and therefore should be a important to us as His children. God teaches us, through His Word, to be grateful to Him for who He is and what He has done. Consider the following verses:

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! - Psalm 107:1

 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. - 1 Chronicles 16:34

 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. - Colossians 3:17

 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. - Philippians 4:6

 

Saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. - Revelation 11:17

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. - Psalm 7:17

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! - Psalm 30:12

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! - Psalm 95:2

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! - Psalm 100:4

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! - Psalm 105:1

Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! - Psalm 106:1

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! - Psalm 107:1

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” - Psalm 118:1

     In Romans 1:20-21, Paul explains that God's invisible attributes are made clear to men, so that they are without excuse as to His existence. Then in verse 21, Paul says "even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God nor give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Being ungrateful and, in the context of this passage, engaging in idolatry, can lead to spiritual darkening; one becomes foolish.

     But God is such a good and loving God that He is still kind to those who are ungrateful, and even to those who are evil:

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men." - Luke 6:35

The Reason For Christians To Be Grateful

     As we think about the many ways God has blessed us, let us all focus on who God is, and on what Christ has done for us. God sent His Son to earth to live a holy life, show us how to do it right, but then died for us on the Cross, atoning for all of our sins because of our inability to live a sinless life—so He did it for us! Thanks be to God for His saving grace, and for His love. Although we are not perfect–but are called to continue maturing as we're being sanctified–Christ was and is perfect.

     Therefore, Christ is the reason we Christians are to be thankful and grateful to God for. Without Christ, we would not have the ability to have a relationship with God; we would be eternally separated from our Creator. Ponder upon, then, and give thanks for what the verses below signify to you as a born-again Christian, saved by grace through Christ:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. - James 1:17

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. - 2 Peter 3:6

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” - Romans 10:13

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. - John 1:12

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. - Hebrews 12:28

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:1

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. - Ephesians 2:8