Being Thankful

In todays world it is hard sometimes to have a constant attitude of thankfulness.

So many things get in our way such as selfishness, mean people, a sense of wrong doing, grief, loneliness, fear, and even distrust.

But in these few verses we see the steps to always be thankful in our lives and the ways to show it to other people.

If we as Gods children are to be healthy spiritually, above all else our relationship with Jesus Christ must be right.

For this to happen, believers must be mindful of their responsibilities to worship and serve the Lord our King.

In this passage Paul gives 3 things for us to do to help us remain ever thankful.

Constant Joyfulness (v 16)

We need to be in a state of constant Joy.

A through and accurate understanding of Christian joy is essential for all believers.

Pauls words here may seem ridiculous and even impossible to obey given life’s inevitable difficulties.

But as a divinely inspired command, believers must follow it.

Any failure to do so constitutes a disregard for Scriptures clear instructions and therefore sinful disobedience.

Being Joyful does not mean we are never going to have troubles or sadness it just means that we must put those things in the proper light.

The phrase here “rejoice always” literally means at all times be rejoicing.

But how do we do that?

We must have a deep understanding and belief that God’s sovereign love and mighty power on behalf of His own children, and in His providential working of all things according to His perfect plan works things out for our good and His glory.

Because of this no event or circumstance in the our lives apart from sin can or should diminish our true joy.

There are several reasons for Biblical Joy

we should have appreciation for Gods righteous character which even in trouble He demonstrates so faithfully to believers.

we should have appreciation for Christs redemptive work, which derives from a gracious, loving, merciful, and compassionate God.

we should rejoice in the work of the holy spirit on our behalf.

we should rejoice because of the amount of spiritual blessings we have.

we should rejoice in Gods providence as he orchestrates everything for our benefit.

we should rejoice in our future glory.

we rejoice in answered prayers.

we must rejoice in the gift of Gods word.

we should rejoice in genuine fellowship with a holy god and other believers.

We must be more concerned about glorifying God than about avoiding temporal difficulties.

Constant Prayerfulness (v 17)

Prayer is our main way of staying in communication with the Father.

Just imagine if you tried to have a relationship with someone but you never talked to them.

that would be an impossible relationship.

Here the meaning of prayer is to be in a constant state of prayer.

It should not be an activity that is done a few times of day but it should be a continual attitude of prayer.

Here are a few reasons prayer should be something that we do not just a few times during the day but constantly.

We should want desire to glorify the Lord.

We should want to have fellowship with Him.

We should pray to Him to have our needs meet.

We should pray for wisdom about how to live Holy in a sinful world.

We should pray for a relief from fear and worry.

We should pray out of gratitude for past blessings.

We should pray to be freed from the guilt of sin.

We should pray for the lost and a role in seeing them saved.

We should pray to grow stronger in our spiritual lives.

Prayer will change our life and no matter how long you do it you can never out grow it.

To pray is to be thankful

Constant Thankfulness (v 18)

Being unthankful is the very essence of the unregenerate heart.

We should give thanks in Everything.

That simple direct statement allows believers no excuses to be ungrateful.

In everything refers to all that occurs in life.

No matter what struggles, trials, testing, or vicissitudes occur in life we are to give thanks.

Thankfulness should be a prat of our fabric.

It is a fruit of the Holy Spirits work within the believers heart.

Colossians 2:7 ESV

7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

It is spiritually abnormal for Christians to be unthankful

Gods providence - His sovereign blending of all of life’s contingencies for believers ultimate blessing causes them to be thankful for everything in life.

Knowing that it fits into His eternal purpose for them.

Even in times of great times of anxiety, fear, worry, grief, and stress, a prayerful attitude of Thanksgiving should characterize our life.