Thanksgiving, Gratitude & Grace

(Feature article in the Erie Times News Reflections column 11.20.2010)

As the holidays approach hearts and minds begin to turn to those things we often take for granted the rest of the year: friends, health and family; we begin to count our blessings. One of the most beneficial things about this is that we have an opportunity to focus on what matters most and experience a great gift, thanksgiving or gratitude.

Of all the things for which we have to be thankful, God deserves the most. Do you feel true gratitude to the One who created and sustains you and offers eternal joy through Jesus Christ?

True gratitude is more than saying “thank you”. You can say “thank you” with no gratitude in your heart, like when a ten year-old receives a pair of socks for his birthday. He may say “thank you”, but no gratitude is in his heart.

Gratitude is a feeling not an act of will power. When it rises in our hearts, we like it. It is part of happiness and a form of delight.

But gratitude is also more than feeling happy that you got something you wanted. You may give that ten year-old a laptop and he runs off bragging how much better his laptop is than his friend's. His happiness is in getting the gift, but he is still ungrateful because he is not grateful to you the giver.

So true thanksgiving is more than saying “thank-you” or delighting in a gift, it is a feeling of happiness directed toward a person for giving you something good or doing something good for you that you did not earn or deserve. Gratitude is a response to grace.

Unless you see yourself as undeserving and receiving goodness without earning it, you will not experience true gratitude, especially to Jesus Christ.

Experiencing gratitude to God is not a trivial matter, but eternally important! It is an indicator of your heart’s ability to see the truth of God’s worth and your unworthiness. The evidence of God’s greatness is clear, revealed in creation (Romans 1), and in Jesus Christ who came, died and rose to bring those who will trust him to God for eternal joy (1 Peter 1.23, Psalm 16.11).

If we do not experience happiness rising in our hearts toward Jesus Christ for who he is and what he has accomplished, it is proof we need a new heart and are dead in our sins. We must turn to God, asking him to open our spiritual eyes to see his worth and we must trust Christ.

Your greatest delight will come from seeing God’s goodness and grace in Jesus Christ. When you do, true gratitude will rise in your heart. You will experience true thanksgiving!