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.
The Apostle Peter said, “Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when He judges the world.” (1 Peter 2:12 NLT)
Therefore, living a life of thankfulness will attract the lost.
It Enhances Our Relationships
I've noticed one thing about some married couples: over time, many of them become ungrateful and unappreciative of their spouses. Eventually, they start taking each other for granted.
Somebody described the first few years of marriage this way.
In their first year, they tell their spouse, “You don’t look good. You should go to the hospital. I’ve already arranged it. I know the food is bad there, but we are going to have meals catered in.”
The second year, they say, “You don’t look so good. I’ve called the doctor. We’re set up to see him tomorrow. Right now, go and lie down, and I will take care of everything.”
The third year, they say, “You know, you’re not looking so hot. When you are done feeding the kids and doing the chores, you ought to lie down.”
And in the fourth year, they say, “Will you quit walking around barking like a seal? You’re going to give me your cold.”
There’s an old saying that says, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, we should cultivate an attitude of gratitude and start thanking God for our spouses, because no one else would put up with us. Think about it.
Husbands, imagine how much your marriage would improve if you showed some appreciation and told her how thankful you are. You might give her a heart attack.
And wives, think about how much your marriage would improve if you told your husband how much you appreciate him. He may be more willing to do the dishes. There’s always an upside.
Imagine how much better our church relationships could be if we expressed gratitude for each other instead of pointing out each other’s faults. Let’s embrace the biblical attitude of forgiveness and thankfulness.
In fact, the Apostle Paul often started most of his letters with words of appreciation. Take his letter to the church in Rome. He said, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.” (Romans 1:8 NKJV)
And he does the same in his letters to Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae.
Paul expressed his gratitude to the people. Now, imagine how much stronger our church and relationships could be if we showed some gratitude.
It Solidifies Our Relationship with God
Although I listed this last, it really is the greatest benefit of all. The Bible says that God resides in two places: in heaven and in a humble, grateful heart.
“For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’” (Isaiah 57:15 NKJV)
And seeing this, I appreciate what the writer of Hebrews says about how we should respond.
“Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear and awe.” (Hebrews 12:28 NLT)
And while we feel thankful, to whom should we direct our gratitude? There is only one person to whom our thankfulness should be given, and that is God, because He is the source of everything.
Harriet Martineau was an atheist. One morning, she and a Christian friend stepped outside into a beautiful fall morning. She saw the sun peeking through the haze, the frost on the meadow, and the brightly colored leaves falling to the ground, and she was filled with the beauty of it all saying, “I am so thankful. I’m just so grateful for it all.”
And her Christian friend then asked, “Grateful to whom?”
There is something within us that needs to thank God. When we take time to thank God for everything we have, we will feel closer to Him.
Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV)
Ways to Develop Thankful Livesa
a. Remember Everything Comes from God
We need to acknowledge that everything we have is God’s and not ours. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” When we do this, it reminds us that it’s a privilege that God has loaned us everything we have.
“What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7b NIV)
Everything we have is on loan from God. Therefore, let’s thank Him.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17 NKJV)
b. Avoid Complaining
We should be grateful and avoid complaining in the process.
Dr. Dale Robbins, Assembly of God pastor and evangelist, writes, “I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for the devil to cause havoc with our lives.”
Complaining only makes things worse.
That is why Paul said, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:14-15 NKJV)
Simply put, complaining is the enemy of thanksgiving. The two cannot coexist in the same heart. So, when we feel like complaining, instead of filing our complaint with the complaint department, file a praise instead. It will change our lives.
c. Develop Thankfulness
If we want to be thankful people, we need to give thanks daily, not just once a year at Thanksgiving. In other words, we need to discipline ourselves to find something each day to be thankful for and to express our thanks to God.
We are told to be filled with the Holy Spirit, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:19-20)
The key word in this verse is “always.” We are to give thanks always.
There’s an old hymn that goes like this, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost. Count your many blessings, name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”
Sometimes I advise people who are depressed to write down things they are grateful for before they go to bed.
If they can’t think of anything, which usually happens when we’re in the middle of a heavy crisis, I tell them to remember to be grateful for the air they breathe or, better yet, to be grateful for Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
And the reason we should count our blessings before going to sleep is that we won’t have all the negative junk invading our thoughts and dreams.
And so, I believe we should begin praying for God to forgive us for our complaining spirit and, instead, thank Him ‘always’ for all that He has given.
Conclusion
Before we end our time together, I’d like to share a list of questions we might ask ourselves to gauge how thankful we really are.
Do we tend to talk more about our blessings or our disappointments?
Do we constantly grumble and find fault, always dissatisfied and wanting more, or are we truly content with what we have?
Is it easier for us to count our blessings or our afflictions?
Do we show gratitude to others when they help us, or do we just take it and them for granted?
Would others say we are thankful?
There was a gal that I read about. Her name was Lois Stahling
When Lois was in the prime of her life, she suffered a stroke and was confined to a wheelchair. She remained mentally alert but couldn’t walk or perform many other everyday activities. She lived in a convalescent home and only went out once a week to attend church.
One day, when the pastor went to pick her up, he found it difficult to get her into his small car. In fact, it was nearly impossible without her “slide-board.” It was a fiberglass board that fit under her legs and helped her slide from the wheelchair into the car. It wasn’t anything fancy, just an inexpensive piece of fiberglass.
One day, Lois pulled the pastor aside and said, “You know what I thank God for every day? I am thankful for my slide board. Because then I can come to church.”
Here’s someone who has every reason to be angry and bitter about her circumstance, and every reason to shake her fist at God. But instead, she is grateful for the small blessings she has, even her slide board. Lois Stahling was counting her blessings.
I believe it’s time we reexamine our thinking and perspective, and thank God for what we have.
I want to conclude with the verse we examined earlier.
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV)
As I reflected on how we are to live thankfully, I realized that living thankfully elevates our relationship with God and others. It takes it to the next level. In other words, as disciples of Jesus Christ, this is next-level stuff.
