Speaker: Bro. Vic Gutierrez, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon Community

“ Thankfulness”

Thankfulness Is Gratitude

T hankfulness is gratitude. It is a feeling of thankful appreciation for blessings or favors received.

I n our charismatic renewal, we regard thankfulness to God as one of our blessings. Thankfulness is manifested in charismatic or renewed persons though their expressions of thanks to God such as “Praise the Lord!”

T hankfulness is closely linked to the gift of praise, another gift from the Lord. Thankfulness to God and praising the Lord are actually used interchangeably. They refer to the same thing: giving God what is due to him.

The Importance of Learning About Thankfulness

L earning about thankfulness is important in order to know God's expectations from us.

J esus cleansed the ten lepers. (Luke 17:11-19). Only one of the ten, a Samaritan, thanked Jesus. He said “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” (verses 17-18). God expects us to thank him for healing us and for his blessings to us.

L earning about thankfulness is also important in order to determine how it affects our relationship with God and our relationship with one another. Understanding thankfulness enables us to improve such relationships.

What To Thank God For

W e should thank God for so many things in our life!

? We should thank God every day of our life. When we wake up every morning, we should thank the Lord we are still alive.

? We should thank God for our good health. Even when we are sick, we thank God for our ability to see a doctor and buy medicines (many others cannot).

? We should thank God for our profession and for our work (so many others are jobless).

? We should thank God for our family, our parents, our children.

? We should thank God for people who love and respect us. Remember that respect is something that we cannot buy.

L et us thank God out of the simplicity of our heart. Gratefulness should become our second nature. Let us not take for granted the many blessing we receive. Let us be sincerely grateful for them.

Our Common Mistakes About Thankfulness

T o thank God is commanded. Among the many verses in the Bible that command us to thank the Lord are: “…giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.” (Ephesians 5:20). “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.” (Philippians 4:6). “In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

W hen we fail to thank God, we offend him. We commit sins due to our lack of thankfulness and gratitude.

? We receive blessings but take them for granted and do not thank God for them.

? We overlook many blessings and we fail to thank God.

? Our blessings are so common and we also fail to show our gratitude to God.

? We wait for miracles to happen in our life before we thank God. We should not wait to be healed from an illness or saved from death before we thank God.

? Our relationship with the Lord may have become too dull that we wait for dramatic events to happen before we thank the Lord. This should not be the case. We should be grateful to God even for simple and day-to-day events in our life.

Why Some People Do Not Thank God

S ome people do not know how to thank the Lord.

1) T here are some people who are self-made and successful. They believe that they succeeded due entirely to their own talents and efforts. They should heed God's warning: “Be careful not to forget the Lord, your God, by neglecting his commandments and decrees and statutes which I enjoin on you today: lest, when you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses and lived in them, and have increased your herds and flocks, your silver and gold, and all your property, you then become haughty of heart and unmindful of the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery;….. Otherwise, you might say to yourselves, ‘It is my own power and the strength of my own hand that has obtained for me this wealth.' Remember then, it is the Lord, your God, who gives you the power to acquire wealth, by fulfilling, as he has now done, the covenant which he swore to your fathers. But if you forget the Lord, your God, and follow others gods, serving and worshiping them, I forewarn you this day that you will perish utterly.” (Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17-19).

I f we ourselves are talented and self-made, let us remember and acknowledge that our talents and our wealth come from God. We must be truly thankful to our Lord, not only in words, but in heart and mind.

2) T here are some people who experience a life full of problems, misfortunes, pains, and defeat. They claim to have nothing to be thankful to God. They never heard about Deuteronomy 8:16 “…that he might afflict you and test you, but also make you prosperous in the end.”

I f we have problems and trials at present, let us realize that God is merely testing our will. He wants to humble us for our own good. Let us thank him amidst our testings. Let us thank him for his promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13. “No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to bear it.”

3) T here may be some people who wrongly believe they have the right to receive God's blessings – therefore there is no need to be thankful.

I n God's presence, we have no rights. He is not obliged to give us anything. He does not owe us anything. It is arrogant for anyone to say that he expects God to help him because it is his right.

Consequence for Ingratitude

I ngratitude is lack of thankfulness. In Filipino culture, calling someone as a person of ingratitude is a very serious insult. It is like calling him as a person who has no shame, with no ability to appreciate and give thanks to God and his fellow men.

W hat is the consequence of failure to acknowledge God and to praise him? Not to give thanks to God is not giving God what is due to him. This is against God's commandment: “You should love the Lord, your God, will all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Failure to thank God is a sin; and the consequence of sin is severe!

L et us give God the glory and honor due to him. Let us be thankful to him always. Let us give him our grateful heart.

How To Have a Grateful Heart

L et us learn to develop a grateful heart that we can offer to God.

? Let us focus our attention on good and beautiful things happening in our life.

? Let us list down all of our answered prayers including those with “no” for an answer. They may actually be blessings to be realized and appreciated in the future.

? Let us record all the good things done for us by those who shepherd us, by the community, by other persons.

? Spouses should learn to appreciate one another and to thank one another.

? Let us offer to Jesus our life – Jesus is our Lord and He owns us. This offering is the highest type of gratitude. Let us have consistent attitude to make all our decisions and actions for evangelization and for the glory of God.

L et us be thankful to God for everything happening in our life. Let us also be thankful and appreciative of one another.