Elevate To The Next Level: "Living In Thankfulness”

Elevate to the Next Level

“Living in Thankfulness”

Watch on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gn1kpICHtk

Knowing that Thanksgiving is just a week away, I thought it was appropriate to look at our series on elevating discipleship to the next level by talking about our need to live in thankfulness. And I thought about a story I had heard.

It was the day before Thanksgiving when an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said, “I hate to ruin your holiday, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are getting a divorce. Forty-five years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, so call your sister in Chicago and let her know.”

 Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. “Like heck they’re getting a divorce,” she shouted. “I’ll take care of this.” She called Phoenix immediately and told her father, “You are not getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing. Do you hear me?” The man hung up and turned to his wife, saying, “Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and paying for their flights.”

In just over a week, most of us will gather with family and friends and hopefully do more than just eat and watch football. The Thanksgiving holiday offers a great chance to shift from complaints and dissatisfaction to lives filled with joyful gratitude, even though the official Christmas shopping season starts the very next day.

What Thanksgiving does is help us turn the corner and become grateful people, the type of people that God desires for us to be.

Alan Perkins, a Christian teacher and author of many Bible and small group studies, said, “A thankful spirit is one of the key distinguishing marks of a Christian. It sets us apart from the world, it makes us different.” (Alan Perkins) 

Psalm 118, which David probably wrote, starts out with these words. “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1 NKJV)

And so, in our time together, I’d like to explore four benefits of having a thankful spirit, and then three ways to cultivate lives of gratitude.

The Benefits of a Grateful Spirit

Thinking about why we need to be thankful, here are a couple of reasons that I’ve come up with.

It Increases Personal Happiness

Most of us believe happiness depends on our circumstances. We’ve been told that our happiness is somehow linked to how well things are going. But in reality, our happiness is shaped by our attitude. It’s about how we view things. 

Take just a moment and think about how the Apostle Paul was able to say these particular words, and write them down for us to consider, all from a prison cell.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NKJV)

Paul was happy and full of joy despite being in prison because he learned to thank God in everything. 

This makes me think of a story about a young woman who wrote to her mother from college. She said, “Dear Mom, Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm broke along with my left leg when I jumped from the second floor of my dorm during the fire. We were lucky because a young service station attendant saw the fire and called the Fire Department. They arrived within minutes. I stayed in the hospital for a couple of days. Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And since it was taking so long to get our dormitory livable again, I moved in with him. He has been very kind. I must admit, however, I am pregnant. Paul and I plan to get married as soon as he can get a divorce. I hope everything is fine at home. I’m doing well and will write more when I get the chance. Love, Susie.” 

P.S. “Mom, none of this is true. But I did get a ‘C’ in Sociology and flunked Chemistry. I just wanted you to receive this news in its proper perspective!”

Happiness is really determined by our perspective on life and not by our circumstances. If we learn to be grateful people despite our circumstances, that is what will enhance our happiness and joy.

It Improves Our Witness for Jesus

Having a spirit of thankfulness will make us better witnesses for Jesus. What is sad is that Christians are some of the most negative people in the world. We act like we have been baptized in vinegar, not in the Holy Spirit. Is it any wonder people don’t want to have anything to do with the church?

But when we are thankful and filled with joy, we will attract the lost with this spirit of gratitude. Why? Because the world is depressingly dark and ungrateful. Yet, if we learn to be thankful, we will attract them because we have something they desperately want and need.