Giving Thanks to God

Thanksgiving is the natural and necessary response of a heart that has received the grace of God. Paul commands it plainly: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Gratitude therefore does not depend on circumstances but on the recognition of God's constant goodness. A thankful heart is like a thermometer of the spiritual life: it reveals the true state of the believer's relationship with his Lord. The episode of the ten lepers who were healed illustrates this poignantly: only one returned to give thanks, and Jesus marveled: "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?" (Luke 17:17). Thanksgiving is the biblical antidote to anxiety, for Paul exhorts us to present our requests to God "with thanksgiving" (Philippians 4:6), and the antidote to pride and discontent as well. To give thanks is to acknowledge that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17). Gratitude does not wait for everything to be perfect: it rises in trial as in prosperity, because it is founded not on what one possesses but on the unchanging character of God. Even Paul's thanksgiving abounded "to the glory of God" (2 Corinthians 4:15). Thus thanksgiving is not a formula of religious politeness but a fundamental disposition of the Christian heart, an active faith that trusts the faithfulness of the Lord in all circumstances.