Normally I am an upbeat, optimistic kind of person. My glass is usually half full, not half empty. But to be honest, when I was asked to write this post, our family had been hit with several losses. I am not sure that gratitude was my current attitude. Painful heartbreak sometimes takes our breath away, and we have to fight hard to express gratitude. Yet, when the invitation came to write, I jumped at the chance because I needed my heart to turn in that direction.
Our Dilemma
During the Thanksgiving season, we tend to turn our hearts and minds more easily toward gratefulness. We reflect on all that God has done in our lives. We usually spend more time with family during the holidays and especially thank the Lord for our loved ones.
What about when things are hard? When life has dealt some hard blows. Maybe you’ve experienced a painful loss of some kind: your health, a relationship, a job, a marriage, or an abandonment. Because loss means pain of some kind, I wonder if gratitude is the first thing on your mind when it happens.
Gratitude in the Bible means extending favor toward, being mindful of favors, and giving grace and kindness as a response. It’s showing appreciation to someone. The Hebrew term for gratitude means recognizing the good that is ours.1 Even if we’ve had a loss. That is when we fight to see what we do have and express gratefulness. And, as a follower of Christ, we always have something to be thankful for.
Everything—Really?
As they waited for Christ’s return, Paul instructed the Thessalonians to “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18). How do we give thanks for everything? Is it even possible?
Even if we are struggling to survive, knowing what Christ has done for us is something we can be grateful for. And even if the “thing” is a terrible thing you are in the middle of, you can thank Him that He will never abandon you, that He weeps with you, and that His compassion and love will carry you! This passage shows us that giving thanks in all things is God’s will for us.
Surface Faith
Gratitude and thankfulness are prevalent in Scripture. Sometimes it is an example of those who do not show gratefulness.
Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome about those who have been exposed to God (which by the way, is every human!). (See Ps. 19:1-4.) They knew Him and yet did not choose to glorify Him as God: “For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:21).
They were exposed as being foolish, vain, and idolatrous, and their hearts were covered by darkness. Since people are supposed to glorify God, by refusing to worship God and thank Him, they became foolish rather than allowing their knowledge of Him to lead them to be grateful for who He is and what He has done.
Knowledge of God should draw us closer to Him as we study the Bible to know Him more. That leads us to love Him more and our hearts of gratitude grow stronger as we choose to face even difficulty with a thankful heart for His presence and His compassion.
We see this in Colossians 2:6-7 as Paul warned against heresy: “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.”
Being rooted in Christ, we grow spiritually. Knowing His truth protects us from false teaching and leads us to abundant gratitude.
Eternal Blessings
A wonderful thing results from a heart of gratitude. We get to worship with other believers to show this gratitude corporately. Later in Colossians Paul wrote this: “And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts”(Col. 3:15-16). We have His peace and we share our faith journey with believers. Truly, when I sing worship to Him, my heart is encouraged every single time!
Another blessing is the peace the Lord gives us when we trust Him in all circumstances. Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
As in the 1 Thessalonians 5 passage, we are given instructions on how to experience His peace. Our worry and pain should be turned into a prayer that includes thanksgiving—not for a few things but everything. We can express thanksgiving that He knows all, He has a purpose, He is present, and He will draw us deeper in our love for and faith in who He is and what He is doing. That leads to a beautiful, mysterious peace “from God, with God, and of God.”2
The bottom line is this: our fulfillment on earth relies on our worship with gratitude for who Jesus is and what He has done. We can live entitled as though God “owes” us, or we can live knowing we do not deserve anything He has done for us. We cannot earn His love or salvation, and we do not deserve it, but He has freely given Himself for us. May we, this season, and every season, let gratitude overflow from our hearts into our worship of Christ. What a testimony and opportunity to make Him known.3
ABOUT CHRIS ADAMS
Chris Adams is an author, speaker, blogger, and women’s ministry consultant. She retired from Lifeway Christian Resources in 2017 after serving over twenty-two years as senior lead women’s ministry specialist. Chris helped pioneer women’s ministry as we know it today and compiled three women’s leadership books: Women Reaching Women, Transformed Lives, and Women Reaching Women in Crisis.
As a part of her ongoing work at Lifeway, Chris served as executive editor of Journey, a women’s devotional magazine and was an ongoing writer for the Lifeway Women’s leadership blog. In 2008, she received the Career of Excellence award at Lifeway.
Prior to her employment at Lifeway, she was the special ministries coordinator at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas, overseeing women’s ministry and missions education. When she’s not consulting, speaking to women, and training women’s ministry leaders, you can find her reading, with family, or spending time at the beach. Chris married Pat in 1971. They have twin daughters, two sons-in-law, fourteen grandchildren, four great-grands, and a seven-pound blind Yorkie named Mo.
A self-proclaimed chocolate connoisseur, Chris is famous for her toffee, which she never seemed to bring enough of according to her coworkers and friends.
Twitter & Instagram: @chrisadams4
Facebook: facebook.com/chrisadams4 & facebook.com/chrismcphersonadams
Website: chrisadams.blog
Works Cited
1. Rabbi Jill Zimmerman, “Gratitude & Thanks,” Sefaria, n.d., https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/279908?lang=bi
2. David Guzik, “Peace and Joy in All Circumstances,” Blue Letter Bible, 2018, updated August 2022, https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/philippians/philippians-4.cfm.
3. CSB Disciple’s Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).
