Why Can We Be Thankful?
In a world that can feel out of control, or maybe in our own lives that feel like we have more to be upset about than thankful, we can often wonder or feel the need to ask ourselves - WHY can I be thankful? What can I be thankful for?
And here's my hot take.
There's a BIG difference between Christians and the world regarding the ROOT of a thankful heart. As Christians, our thankfulness is rooted in MORE than just thankfulness itself.
In today’s society, we see many people displaying gratitude simply for gratitude's sake. And that's great. But this perspective towards gratitude is limited only to the horizontal - what is, what was, what will be on this earth, or what they have, what they can do, and what has been done for them. As a result, their gratitude is often rooted in their own power, chance, or luck.
In Scripture, however, we see that a heart of thankfulness is VERY OFTEN, if not always, tied to the One who GIVES us something to be thankful for. We're thankful for what we have and what has been done on our behalf. But it’s not by chance that we have these things. Instead, it's by Someone who grants them to us. So, in other words, we’re thankful for something deeper than what we see here on the horizontal.
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There are many people in the world we might look at, or maybe we feel it in our own lives, where it seems challenging to find a reason to be thankful, especially when we're just looking at what’s happening around us or what we have.
It's hard to be thankful… when we take God out of the picture. But the Scriptures, time and time again, bring a thankful perspective IN LIGHT OF GOD - who HE is, who HE is TO US, what HE has done and will do, WHAT HE'S invited us into, and so on. It adds another level to thankfulness.
So, friend, in this month where thankfulness is emphasized, let's work on developing thankful hearts. Why can we be thankful? Here's a list of 10 reasons YOU can be thankful today, rooted in Christ.
Because God has a will for us (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Because He is good and His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34)
Because He is my shield and help (Psalm 28:7)
Because He has blessed us with peace, divine wisdom, and an opportunity to glorify him with our lives (Colossians 3:15-17)
Because every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:17)
This is a BIG ONE - Because He gives us victory (1 Corinthians 15:57)
Because He is righteous (Psalm 7:17)
Because He has given us grace (1 Corinthians 1:4)
Because He has produced Christ-likeness and spiritual growth in the lives of others (1 Thessalonians 1:2)
Because He allows us to come to Him in prayer and cast all our cares at His feet (1 Peter 5:7)