Giving Thanks - Pt 4

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9 ESV).

The next principle we discover in the Scripture is our need to be grateful for the Gospel. We should aim to have our thanksgiving rise in proportion to the value of the object for which we give thanks. Therefore, we should be most grateful for God’s work for us in Christ because it unites us to our highest joy – God himself. Paul writes in our reading today, “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus” (v. 4). Paul never tired of giving thanks for the grace of God in Jesus’ person and work. And neither should we. God has showed his love for us even when we were enemies of God (cf. Romans 5:8); he called us out of darkness and made us heirs of God (cf. Romans 8:17); and Jesus bore the punishment we deserved, and we receive his perfect righteousness (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21). We have so much to be grateful for in this life. But the reality is that sometimes constant life demands, struggles, and worries give more room to defeat than to a heart of thanks. Or we forget, in the midst of busyness and pressures, just to pause and give thanks, for all that God has done, and continues to do in our lives. Sometimes it really is a sacrifice to offer praise and thanks. We may not feel like it. We’re struggling. We're weary. Or maybe, we feel like He let us down. We think God seems distant, like he's far away, or doesn't really care about what's troubling us. Painful life blows and losses might have recently sent us spiraling. But here’s how remembering the Gospel can make a lasting difference. We have a choice, every day, to give him thanks. And with a heart of thanksgiving, we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn’t just work to change our situations and help us through our problems. He does more. He changes our hearts. His power, through hearts of gratitude and focused minds on Him, releases the grip our struggles have over us. We're strengthened by His peace, refueled by His joy. He gives us eternal life!