What does the Bible say about thankfulness / gratitude?

Thankfulness as a Core Biblical Command

What does the Bible say about thankfulness and gratitude? We're going to answer that question. Thankfulness is a prominent Bible theme. 1 Thessalonians says, Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Did you catch that? Give thanks in all circumstances. Thankfulness should be a way of life for us, naturally flowing from our hearts and our mouths. Digging into the scriptures a little more deeply, we understand why we should be thankful and also how to have gratitude in different circumstances.

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Here we have two reasons to be thankful. God's constant goodness and his steadfast love. When we recognize the nature of our depravity, our natural response is to be grateful for the life he gives.

David praises God for deliverance. I will exalt you, O Lord, for you have lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.

O Lord, you brought me up from the grave. You spared me from going down into the pit. You turned my wailing into dancing. You removed my sackcloth and closed me with joy that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. Here David gives thanks to God following an obviously difficult circumstance. This psalm of thanksgiving not only praises God in the moment but remembers God's past faithfulness.

It is a statement of God's character which is so wonderful that praise is the only appropriate response. David in a deep distress also cries out to God for mercy, protection, and justice. Praise be to the Lord for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. In the midst of hardship, David remembers who God is and as a result of knowing and trusting God gives thanks.

Thanksgiving in Suffering, Trials, and Worship

Job had a similar attitude of praise even in the face of death. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised. In addition, Paul was heavily persecuted.

Yet he wrote,.

Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. The writer of Hebrews says, Therefore since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.

Peter gives us a reason to be thankful for grief and all kinds of trials saying that through the hardships, our faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Gratitude as a Healthy and God-Honoring Response

We should be thankful because God is worthy of our thanksgiving. It is only right to credit him for every good and perfect gift he gives. When we are thankful, our focus moves off selfish desires and off the pain of current circumstances.

Expressing thankfulness helps us remember that God is in control. Thankfulness then is not only appropriate, it is actually healthy and beneficial to us. It reminds us of the bigger picture that we belong to God and that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Truly, we have an abundant life and gratefulness is fitting. That answers the question, what does the Bible say about thankfulness and gratitude? Research this question further on our website, gotquestions .org.

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