How do you express gratitude to God and your loved ones ?
Praise and worship is a way of showing gratitude to God. Loving your neighbour is showing gratitude of what Christ did for you and you will be reflecting His nature.
Giving of your time and resources is showing gratitude. Being available and giving a shoulder to lean on or listen to someone even if you don’t have answers is showing gratitude and compassion.
We learn to be grateful from Jesus. On many occasions He gave thanks in different circumstances.
Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.” Psalm 95:1-3 NLT
You might have had a difficult upbringing. It is painful, difficult to forgive or to process. Choosing to focus on the few good times/ things makes a difference. Gratitude towards God for making a way is a good start. I remember at one time I moved away from home to a different town when I was young on my own. l met great people who shared the gospel with me and my perspective to life was transformed. These people did not have much but welcomed me in their home and treated me like their daughter. They created an environment, that reflected God’s nature and soon l was found in Christ and my life was never the same again.
They were always thankful, loving and giving of their time and resources to the church family and community.
They had their own personal challenges but they knew who their maker was, and chose to have their eyes set on Jesus the author of their faith. They trusted in a higher power, and knew who their source was.
Is your ability to be thankful affected by situations?
'' Do you remember when the lights went on''
And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18 TPT
l soon learnt to live like my new family, giving of my time and resources to the community.
I didn’t have much but was happy to share the little.
Fast track years later, l am at a conference in London and a Compassion children's sponsorship video was on screen, watching the stories of children in Uganda it brought memories and tears started flowing.
In that moment l knew what l needed to do. I remembered how someone accommodated and fed me when l had nothing.
During this conference in London, my finances were tight, but l said to myself l will have to shift some stuff and God will do the rest. I picked a profile of a 4 yr old girl.
The Lord has been faithful to me over the years.
I am grateful that we can be Jesus’s hands and feet on this earth.
I am encouraged by the stories of people who have gone through tough times, their resilience and determination to be the best version of themselves and their giving back mentality.
How do you stay grateful in all circumstances?
Let your roots grow down into him and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:7 NLT
Your personal relationship with Christ matters, How you see yourself in Him. How you see Him, How you see others. Who are you? Why are you here? Whose are you?
When you can answer these questions fully, you will overflow with gratitude.
As you reflect on truths you were taught about Christ over the years, and living a life of faith and gratitude, may you overflow with his goodness and spread some kindness wherever you are.
3 points l want to leave with you today
“ Your gratitude is linked to your perspective.”
1. Giving is one way of showing gratitude and it keeps you grounded in your faith.
2. Your faith and your identity in Christ leads to an overflow of gratitude - with the rise in cost of living, it’s easy for worry and doubt to set in, but we have to remember Who is our God, He is our source. We choose to be thankful in all circumstances.
3. Your gratitude is linked to your perspective.
You can choose to see the glass as half full and not as half empty or you can choose to focus on what you can do to fill it to overflowing.
Prov 19:17 Being kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord. The Lord will reward you for what you have done.
Final words
Let us be grateful of today. Be grateful of who we are.
Be grateful of where you are in life. You may not have reached all your life goals
Let us be thankful that we are here and we have another day to work on them.
I am grateful that along the way l can help transform a life.
I am grateful for the little l have, I am grateful that l have the opportunity to be a blessing to someone living miles away with my small contributions.
What are you grateful for?
Journaling is a good way of expressing your gratitude, check out some of our journals by clicking image.
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