Remember the Place You Belong
It would do us well to remember that we are qualified in spite of good or bad circumstances.
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In Jesus’s Name
As followers of Jesus, we need to thoughtfully reflect God’s mission and character in our everyday work.
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Walking with God in Uncertain Times
Compassion for others is not extra credit for Christians. Take Colossians 3:12, for example: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” As people who are special to God because of his grace in Christ, the first thing we’re to put on is “compassion.” The original language is even more powerful. It says that we’re to clothe ourselves with “a heart of compassion” (splanchna oiktirmou). This isn’t simply a matter of appearing to care for others. Rather, it’s having your heart moved by the sufferings of others and the acting on that empathy.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Giving Thanks in Hard Times
I have known Christians who confuse genuine gratitude to God with denial of life’s challenges and pains. They advocate an “always look on the bright side of life” philosophy that minimizes or ignores the hard things we all experience. They think this sort of denial is required of Christians. But this approach to life and faith does not do justice to what we see in Scripture.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Thank God for the Big Things
What will help us to feel and express gratitude for the major ways in which we experience God’s grace? Surely, reflection on Scripture assists us by reminding us of all that God has done for us. Corporate worship is also crucial, in my experience.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: The Gratitude Visit
Communicating our gratitude to others can make a difference in their lives, in our relationships with them, and even in our own level of happiness. The connection between sharing gratitude and personal wellbeing has been shown in a variety of psychological studies.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Sharing Your Gratitude with Others
There is a significant difference between thanking someone directly and sharing thanks to God for that person. Both are worth doing, of course. Saying “Thank you” to someone acknowledges the good that this person has done and gives the person appreciative credit. Saying “I thank God for you” reframes both the action and the relationship. It points to the fact that God is at work in and through the other person. It gives God ultimate credit for the good someone does for another.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Gratitude and Your Daily Work
Paul’s example of thanksgiving for his work encourages us to be similarly thankful. No matter the work you do, as long as it is consistent with biblical teaching, it contributes to God’s work in the world. It is something you can do for God’s purposes and glory.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Why You Might Be Hesitant When It Comes to Gratitude
If you’re uncomfortable with humility, dependence, indebtedness, and obligation, then you’ll surely struggle with being grateful, even to God.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Developing a Posture of Gratitude
One who has a posture of gratitude sees all of life as full of God’s good gifts. A person with this posture pays attention to how God showers us with blessings upon blessings. Spoken thanks to God flows naturally from such a posture.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Give Thanks Persistently
To do something persistently means doing it, not only regularly, but also when facing resistance. Persistence implies doggedness, an effort to keep on going even when the going gets rough. When Paul offers thanks for his churches, he does so not only when he and they are flourishing, but also when they are not.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Count Your Blessings
Counting our blessings is a good thing to do because Scripture teaches us to do it, both through example and specific exhortation (see, for example, Colossians 1:12; 3:15-17; 4:2). Counting our blessings is also a good thing to do if we want to live flourishing lives. Living gratefully leads to living fully.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: More Than Feeling Thankful
Scripture would urge us to choose to be grateful, first of all, by acknowledging God’s grace as we pray. We don’t just feel thankful. We actually thank God in prayer no matter what we’re feeling. We tell God what he has done, recognizing his grace at work in our lives and acknowledging our dependence on him.
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Living Fully, Living Gratefully: Why Giving Thanks Matters
Thanking God highlights God’s sovereignty, presence, and care. Thanking God frames all of human life in the context of God’s will and activity. Thanking God points to God’s grace and goodness. Thanking God is foundational to the Christian life.
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