Give Thanks
by Rachel Bunn
It’s about that time. The time where a lot of us will sit around our table (or our grandmother’s), eating turkey (or Chinese food), and think about what we are thankful for. Made-Up Holiday Bonus Points to any house where it’s a common icebreaker to go around the table and share with the room. As adults, we may say we are thankful for the recent rain or the sunshine, vacation days from work, or a great checkup with the doctor. From the kids’ table you may hear gratefulness for pie, the cat, or Paw Patrol.
But what about Thanksgivings where we just don’t feel very thankful? What about when we are living through trial after trial, hardship after hardship, conflict after conflict? Or maybe we just plain ‘ol don’t want to because we are angry or offended. Gratefulness might not come up on the “Emotion Wheel” for us as easily in these times. As Christians, disciples of Jesus, what do we do when we can’t seem to be thankful?
Biblical Gratitude
The Bible has a lot to say about being thankful. “Thankfulness”, “gratitude”, “thanksgiving” and the like show up in Scripture well over 100 times. Let’s define some key words:
“grateful” is defined by Merriam-Webster as “appreciative of benefits received”
“thanksgiving” can be defined as “the act of giving thanks.”
There is a difference here where one word is defined more by a feeling, and the other word is an action. I would argue that even when we do not feel gratitude bubbling up in us, God commands us to give thanks anyways.
Let’s look closer.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)
Here the Apostle Paul is telling the Church in Thessalonica to give thanks in all circumstances. All. 1st Century church context: this body of believers was new, was a mix of Jews and Gentiles (who had a lot of conflict), and was being heavily persecuted (some even killed) for their faith in Jesus Christ as the true King.
Then to the church in Ephesus…
“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Ephesians 5:17–20)
We read in these verses an even more radical thought: Paul is telling these early Christians to give thanks always and for everything. Everything! Let’s get some boots on the ground here: That means God wants us to give thanks in the middle of the night when the baby won’t sleep, during tax season, for the mold found under the hardwood floors, when the diagnosis is not what we expected, for the itchy sweater our aunt crocheted, and when long term friends go their separate ways. Whew.
And as disciples of Jesus, we must. Biblical gratitude is a response to God’s overwhelming generosity, rooted in the Gospel. It is not a fleeting feeling. Often when someone is talking about gratitude in our modern culture, it focuses more on personal well-being and positive feelings. “You should be thankful” sounds more like “just be happy” when thrown around haphazardly. But our God does not ask us to put on a happy face and push our negative emotions down. Just check out Psalms and Lamentations. True gratitude is a profound acknowledgement of God’s grace, recognizing His role in every aspect of our life. It’s not about the gift (although we should definitely thank God for every undeserved blessing we receive) or the supposed lack of gift. It’s about the Giver.
The Generosity of God the Father
As Christians, we believe that everything we have comes from God’s generosity. He is the author of all creation and our ultimate provider. Out of an abundance of love, God created the universe and everything in it, including humans. God is good, faithful, merciful, long-suffering, just, and attentive. He is also immensely generous, giving what is best and beyond what is deserved. He provides for the sparrows of the air, the flowers of the field, and for believers and unbelievers, despite our rebellion.
The ultimate expression of God’s lavish generosity is Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Though we were created in the image of God, to love and obey Him for eternity, we rebelled against our Father and disobeyed His commands. We believed a lie: “Does God really love me? Will He really provide for me? Does He really know what is best?” This disobedience separated us from God, and yet in His loving generosity, God made a way for us to be reconciled back to Him: He gave us Himself. God the Son, Jesus, came to live the perfect life, obedient to the Father and full of true gratitude for His provision; died on the cross willingly in our place, taking on the sins of the world even though He knew no sin; and then was raised to life on the third day defeating death, sin, and Satan, so that whoever believes in Him, will not die but have everlasting life, generously given to us from God.
Does God really love me? Look at the cross.
Will He really provide for me? Look at the cross.
Meditating on the graciousness of Jesus’s sacrifice for us, should lead us into true gratitude.
A Faithful Response
Regardless of how we feel, if we believe God is who He says He is, generous, faithful, and sovereign, then our gratitude and thanksgiving to Him is an act of worship and praise. We surrender our lives in response to God’s love and grace. Jesus lived His life with perfect thanksgiving and praise that was rooted in trust and dependence on the Father, not merely circumstantial happiness. We see this in how Jesus taught His disciples despite their often grumbling and lack of understanding; how He healed people despite the persecution He received from the religious leaders of His time; and how He gave sinners like me a way back to God by willingly submitting to a cruel, undeserved death at the hands of His enemies.
We lift up our thanksgiving to God because of what He has done in our lives and ultimately in Christ. And we lift up praise to God simply because of who God is in Himself, not based on how we feel in the moment. As the psalmist says:
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 107:1)
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night, (Psalm 92:1-2)