Always Giving Thanks
Notes
Transcript
Always Giving Thanks
Always Giving Thanks
Means that our lives should reflect that we are grateful for all things.
Always giving thanks means that we know that what we have, what we experience, what we see, how we live, what we have, our time, talents and testimony, etcetera and etcetera, is a mindset based on a heart-set that knows we are blessed by God, by Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, by others, and by God’s creation.
Always Giving Thanks is the mindset of Thankfulness.
Thankfulness is a Virtue
Thankfulness is a Virtue
which means it is a good thing for us to have as a feature of our Character. Like honesty, wisdom, joy, love and hope, thankfulness makes us people that other people like to be around.
Think of what its like if you don’t experience that from those you meet—because I know that if you talk to anyone besides the person in the mirror, you will meet those who show few virtues in their character.
Someone who is not honest with us is probably not honest with themselves either. Their lives are lived according to the story they have made up about themselves, and selling their story to us, getting us to agree that what they have made up about themselves is who they are becomes a barrier to truth for them and for us. Those people are hard to be around because they can’t really be trusted for anything but promoting themselves. A pattern of lying is a pattern of self-protection that denies the truth. It’s not the kind of person you want to hang out with unless you like to be someone who is disposable—not of any value to them.
Those who are not wise get themselves and those who support or follow them into all kinds of difficulties.
Those who don’t show joy as a part of their character will deflate us, not pump us up. It becomes almost a psychological contest to see what’s wrong with most everything. Without joy, it’s tough to celebrate goodness.
Love shows through when others are interested in your well-being, not their own pleasure. Love cares for the one who is loved. One who only loves oneself likes the person in the mirror but doesn’t show much care for others. If love is only an emotions, it’s as changeable as the weather; when love is a virtue of character, love is good to experience from others.
Hope is what makes the future worthwhile; but hopelessness looks for a way to escape our troubles with looking for any real solutions. Hopelessness just wants the present pain to stop. I don’t want to spend too many words on that this morning. But we can relate to moments of hopelessness. It’s not a fun way to live. Sometimes we face trials and trouble that overwhelm us. Hope sees that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that we will not be stuck in the present darkness, that things will become better and that life is good, no matter what we have to face. Someone with hope helps us see the possibilities instead of the problems.
And thankfulness, when it is missing, will make a person difficult to be around. We experience it as someone who takes more than they give. Someone who accepts things because they expect things. Someone who seems not to appreciate the investment made in them to do something as simple as giving them a meal will often not show appreciation when what they are given represents a large sacrifice on the part of others.
When someone is rescued from their present trouble that threatens their very lives, and others pour themselves into that rescue, sometimes even giving their own lives for that other person’s safety, we can hardly say that it’s appropriate if their first words and final report is more like “It’s about time they got me out of that hole” than “I am grateful beyond words for the spirit of sacrifice and love that led to me rescue.
Thankfulness is a virtue of character that is sometimes missing in those whose lives are based on selfishness or privilege.
It is better by far if we seek to develop the virtue of thankfulness.
To Be Thankful is defined as
To be impressed with a spirit of gratitude for kindness received (and be ready and willing to acknowledge it).
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Which leads us also to the reality that...
Thankfulness is a Feature of Faith
Thankfulness is a Feature of Faith
Because Thankfulness focuses on how God the Father cares for us
11 And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
“For he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”
And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. 4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
Thankfulness is the Attitude of Gratitude
Thankfulness is the Attitude of Gratitude
Made specially true and important to the Christian because of what God has done for us by providing us with his very own Son, our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord.
Paul says in
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
Thankfulness Never Ends
Thankfulness Never Ends
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.