In our culture, we reserve our thankfulness for the month of November. During that time, you’ll likely see an overwhelming amount of Facebook posts titled “Today I’m thankful for…” and then a continuation of that thought throughout the month. Maybe you’ll see a plethora of tweets using the hashtag “thankful” or “blessed.” While it’s a great thing to use November as a catalyst for thanksgiving in your heart, as disciples of Jesus, we should take being thankful very seriously all year long.
When Jesus healed the ten lepers near Samaria and Galilee (Luke 17), only one returned giving thanks to his Healer. Jesus asked in that instance, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?” Clearly a grateful heart is important to our Lord. The New Testament continues with this thought, telling us in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 that giving thanks is the will of God for us, and revealing in Romans 1:21 that being unthankful is a grievous sin.
So how can we be a people with thankful hearts? How can we cultivate a grateful attitude within us? Here are 5 tips that may help you be a more thankful person all year long.
1: Pray without asking. What percentage of our prayers are requests and supplications? Clearly there is nothing wrong with asking God for things (Phil. 4:6, 1 Pet. 5:7, James 1:5), but maybe there is something wrong if all of our prayers are out of need, and none are out of gratitude. Philippians 4:6 also encourages us to pray “with thanksgiving.” So if you tend to fall in the category of the nine forgetful recipients more often than the one thankful returner, set a reminder (on your phone, on the fridge, by your bed) to only pray a prayer of thanksgiving to our God. Truly He is worth it.
2: Reflect on past supplications. Obviously there are lots and lots and lots of times when we need things from our heavenly Father. We are imperfect, completely dependent beings. And, we know that if we ask we will receive (Matt. 7:7, James 4:2-3). Unfortunately, we don’t always say thank you when we receive, partly because we never reflect on the things we’ve prayed about in the past. This is a great reason to keep a prayer journal or something similar. That way, you can go back and thank God for all of the answers you’ve received— even the answers that weren’t what you had in mind.
3: Remember where you’ve been. Paul reminds the Ephesian Christians in Ephesians 2 exactly what their lives had been like before Christ. He uses words like “aliens” and “strangers”; phrases like “no hope” and “without God in the world.” Take time to meditate on these verses, and surely you will be reminded to thank God for having “been brought near by the blood of Christ.” We have a great opportunity each Lord’s day to remember the sacrifice of Jesus and what it did for us. Occasionally, use those moments to thank God for the blood, for the death, for the scheme of redemption.
4: Cut out complaints. Complaining undercuts a thankful heart. It brings to the surface the negative, the unsavory, the less-than-ideal parts of our lives, and it shares them with others. Instead, let’s be a people who constantly tell others how God has blessed us, even in an imperfect situation. Let’s praise God in our storms. Let’s magnify Christ in our difficulties, instead of showing others through our words that we’re lacking a complete trust in the One we claim as our Lord and Master. Remember, Philippians 2:14-15 instructs us to stop complaining so that we can be lights to our dark world.
5: Meditate on Jesus. I think sometimes we stop short of fully appreciating Jesus’ life because we focus solely on the cross. Yes, absolutely, the cross will make you fall on your knees and thank God. But think about how many times the New Testament admonishes us to imitate Christ, to have His mind, or to walk in His steps. To fully do that, we must look at His entire life, and throughout, He thanked His heavenly Father (Matt. 11:25, Matt. 26:27). Jesus, who was the only human being ever in the history of humans to NOT be dependent on God (because He was God!), still chose to thank God for all that He had. We ARE completely dependent. How much more should we stop and thank God for sustaining us and giving us grace and the hope of heaven! If we’ll meditate on Jesus’ life, we’ll remember to shut out the rest of the world at times and simply connect with our Father in heaven.
Perhaps if we’ll implement these things into our regular routines, we’ll have a more thankful heart. And the more we thank God, the more second-nature it will become, and how could that possibly be a bad thing? Our God deserves all thanks and praise and glory and honor— more than we could ever express to Him! Let us constantly remind ourselves to thank Him, for He alone is worthy of our thanks. After all, every good gift comes from Him (James 1:17).
