BIBLE TEXT: 1st THESSALONIANS 5:18

The dictionary defines thankfulness as being conscious of a benefit received and being grateful for receiving that benefit. Being thankful is a wonderful quality of people with conscience.

Being thankful means when someone gives you something or does a nice thing for you, you show your appreciation by thanking the person and doing things to show that you are not taking the kindness for granted.

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES OF GRATITUDE

King David in the bible was known as a man who is always in the habit of displaying his gratitude to the Almighty God. We can see an example of this in 2 Samuel 7:22 where he revered God. We can also see more examples of that in the book of Psalms, of which he was a major contributor.

Another example is that of the ten leprous men in the bible. In the book of Luke 17:11-19, we are made to know how Jesus asked them to go and show themselves to the priest when they asked him to heal them. They did what he asked but only one of them returned to show his gratitude. Jesus proclaimed him totally whole and with that, he shows how important gratitude is.

EFFECTS OF GRATITUDE

According to an African adage, “When a child is grateful of what he got today, he will surely get another tomorrow.”

The adage is very correct. How would you feel if you something very nice for a person and all the person has to say is ‘thank you’ and then walking away? Perhaps, you bought a special for a person and the person just throws it away or doesn’t even use it for anything. I bet you won’t be happy about that.

However, you will feel encouraged to do more if the person shows serious and genuine appreciation and shows how much the gift means to him or her. You will know that what you have done have not been in vain.

WHO DESERVES MOST GRATITUDE?

While everyone deserves praises and thanks for all the nice things they do, the one who deserves it most is God himself. Why does he deserve it?

1 Chronicles 16:34 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever.”

God sent his only son to save us from our sins. If that is not something to be thankful for, I wonder what is. The oxygen we breathe in, if we think about it, how would it feel if we had to pay for it? How will the poor survive with that arrangement? Some people will have to hoard the oxygen and some will try to kill for it.

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Source: https://opinionsandstories.com/gratitude/