Benefits of Gratitude
Thankfulness glorifies God
This alone would be reason to give thanks to God. To bring glory to God is an amazing accomplishment. Our true thankfulness does exactly that… it is not about talking about the blessings as much as it is about the one who gives the blessings… Think of it this way… Our gratitude glorifies God as we exalt not the gifts, but the Giver. It is great to get the exact present you wanted for Christmas but when you realize how much someone loves you to get that for you… it is your gratitude to the giver that matters more than the excitement over the gift. Gratitude helps us realize all we have comes not because of us, but from God.
All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 2 Corinthians 4:15
I am telling you that there is power in being a thankful person. To recognize just how amazing our God is and all that He does for us. And can I tell you something? God has everything already; there is not a possession or gift that you give Him that He does not already have. If you had to buy a present for God just imagine how tough of a job that would be. But what you can give Him, and it has value and meaning is your thankfulness for your life, for His hand upon you, for His strength… and when you can truly see all that He has does and offer Him sincere thanks from your heart it brings Him glory. Now that is something worth giving to God.
Thankfulness helps us see God.
You need to get this… you need this… it might just be that you are a bit spoiled and a tad ungrateful in life and perhaps you just might take some things for granite. So, do not dismiss this… look to learn, to be taught, to be changed. The thing about being truly thankful is that it opens our spiritual eyes. In the Lion King movie they talk about the circle of life… one thing leads to another and to another. Well in being thankful, having a sincerely grateful heart it puts many things in motion. One of the beautiful thing about the cycle of thankfulness is this… The more we thank Him, the more we see Him working in us and around us. Gratitude helps us sense God’s presence, His personal care and His perfect timing.
16 So don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. James 1:16-17
Pay attention here… WHATEVER is good and perfect is a gift coming down from our Father… Being truly thankful to God for the ALL of the blessings in life helps us to see the hand of God working in our life. Our truly thankful hearts helps us to see the workings of the Father in our life. So look at the importance of being grateful already… our thankful hearts bring glory to the Father and it helps us to see the Father at work in our lives. Those two reasons alone should move us to realize the importance of being grateful to God but guess what? There are even more benefits for a grateful heart.
Having Thankful Hearts puts us squarely in God’s will.
Now think about this. So many times we pray for the will of God to be revealed to us, so we do not make a mistake, that we do not miss God and His Word makes it clear as rain. We are simply to be thankful and give thanks in all circumstances. We often make God’s will out to be some big, mystical plan when sometimes, it’s simply obedience. And part of His will for us is to be thankful, not just on the sunny days but on the hard ones as well.
…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
So, why be thankful? Because it is the will of God for our lives. In fact, you might say, to not be thankful is to step directly out of the will of the Father. Isn’t it amazing just how important that being thankful is? Now keep it all together… being thankful brings the glory to God… Being thankful enables us to see the hand of God upon our lives… Being thankful is vital to being in the Will of the father. It isn’t just one of those things… you do not get to choose the importance of it. So, the month of November is really more vital than you might have thought. It is more than just having good manners…
A Thankful attitude brings peace.
Keep expanding your understanding on this. Do you ever have trouble getting to sleep at night or finding rest, comfort in the daytime? Well listen… instead of counting worries try counting blessings at night… get rid of the worry. Gratitude helps us see that God’s hand is all over our circumstances. And God tells us when we give him our thanks, He gives us supernatural peace.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Now the scripture promises us peace here… not just a plain jane peace but a peace that transcends all understanding and it will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. A peace that you cannot imagine, that you cannot figure out. You will be asking yourself… “How can I have this calm, this peace, this comfort with all that is going on around me?” It will amaze you… it will cause you to give true thanks to God which in turn will bring Him glory… and the cycle begins all over as you clearly see the hand of God upon you. Being thankful brings peace…
We are going to look at one more benefit today of having a thankful heart and it is so simple yet so often overlooked…
Gratitude draws us to God.
Get this today… it is too exciting to just let it slip through the cracks. Thankfulness…Gratitude for the magnitude, for the incredible awesomeness of God’s undeserved kindness draws us to Him. Our thankfulness draws us closer to God. Can I just tell you that it does not get any better than this. Drawing close to God changes who we are. Look at how thankfulness draws us closer to God. We are going to use an example that we used last week… remember the ten lepers that Jesus healed? We see that when Jesus healed 10 lepers. As Jesus walked by, all 10 cried out for healing. “Go, show yourselves to the priests,” Jesus commanded and as they went, they were healed! Fingers were restored and ulcers disappeared as full sensation returned to their faces and limbs. Certainly, they were all happy… How can you even begin to imagine the joy they must have felt as their skin was made fresh, new fingers grew back, but we know that only one was truly thankful… think about that… All ten were happy but only was truly grateful… and his grateful heart brought him back close to Jesus. Only one came back to Jesus, fell as his feet and thanked him.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:17-19
Now put this in the big picture… being thankful brings us close to God as we bow before Him in prayer to give Him thanks. Our grateful heart brings glory to God… Our thankful hearts allows us to see God more clearly in our life… Our grateful hearts centers us in His will for our lives… Being truly grateful in all things brings us peace…
How does that sound to you? To be closer to God, to see Him in your life, to have peace in moments like you never had before, to actually be living in His will daily and to have our life bring glory to God each and every day… every action we take. You have a lot to be thankful for. Slow down… take the time realize just how good that God is and give Him proper thanks for all that He does. It will change you which in turn will change your life!
