What the Bible Says About Being Thankful

Every day should be a day of thanksgiving. You should express thanks to God and to others as a way of living a righteous life. Don't wait until Thanksgiving Day to thank God and the people in your life. When you give thanks, not only are the people blessed by your thankfulness, but you will enjoy the expression as much or more than they do.

Thankfulness: Definition

Thankfulness is a feeling of appreciation expressed as a positive response to something done or said to you. Other words include gratitude and gratefulness. There are many reasons to be thankful as well as numerous ways to show thankfulness.

The Bible says a great deal about thankfulness. It records how important it is to express thankfulness as well as how to show thankfulness.

The Importance of Expressing Thankfulness

We do not have to wait until the last Thursday in November to say we are thankful. Thankfulness should be expressed in ways other than just saying it. It should be shown, and It should be a way of living every day.

The Bible says we should always express thankfulness. It should be a regular part of our daily routine, and not limited only to celebrations and holidays. When we thank God and others, it shows that we do not take them or their gifts for granted.

We should always respond with thankfulness, praise, and joy for all of our gifts from God and others.

Thank God

We should thank God for who He is and not just for what He does for us. Forgetting to thank God is a sure sign of ignoring God.

People tend to focus on their blessings and thank God for them on Thanksgiving Day, but thanksgiving to God should be on our lips and in our hearts the other 364 days of the year as well.

The list is limitless to the things we should thank God for. If we start thanking God in the morning when we first get out of bed and thank Him during the day, we would not be finished by the time we go to bed at night. That's because God should be in everything we do during the day.

Thank Others

Thankfulness should be a very important part of every relationship for it to be a healthy one. We should always thank our parents, other members of our family, friends, co-workers, leaders in the church, and people in our community.

When we express thankfulness, we will notice that our attitude and other things about our lives take on new meanings. When we are thankful, we will have even more to be thankful for.

Ways to Thank God

We should thank God every single day for creating us in His own image. That means we are a reflection of Him. Not only that, but God gives us grace. That is His unmerited favor He gives us that we don't deserve. We should thank Him for His mercy. That means He withholds punishments from us that we do deserve.

Everything we have or will ever have belongs to God, but He gave it to us because He loves us so much. Therefore, thankfulness is one of the primary characteristics of a righteous and obedient life.

Here is a short list of ways we can thank God.

• Acknowledge who God is.
• Acknowledge what God has done.
• Tell others about the goodness of God.
• Do what God commands.
• Do not do what God forbids.
• Work in the Kingdom of God.
• Serve others.

Ways to Thank Others

There are many ways to thank others. There are some general things, and there are some specific and creative things we can do to show our appreciation to people.

Here are some suggested ways to thank others. Perhaps you can think of others.

• Give people a word of encouragement, especially when they need it the most.
• Treat people to a meal.
• Do the driving and take people places.
• Offer to do a chore or run an errand for others.
• Just be there for people.
• Be a supporter.
• Help them in their time of need.

Scriptures About Expressing Thanks

• Offer unto God thanksgiving. (Psalm 50:14)
• I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. (Psalm 69:30)
• Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4)
• O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalm 107:11)
• Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:20)
• Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. (Colossians 4:2)
• Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

There are some really interesting things about giving thanks.

• When you give thanks, God gives you more to be thankful for.
• When you thank God, you acknowledge Him for who He is as well as for what He does.
• When you thank others, you are also thanking God. Matthew 25:40 says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."