Thanksgiving - What We Say and What We Do

Happy month of Thanksgiving! We all KNOW how important gratitude is. We are familiar with this scripture:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

It’s important! So important that “thank you” is often one of the first phrases we teach our children and grandchildren to say.

How many times have I given a child/grandchild something and said “what do you say?” expecting them to say “Thank you.”

We know that when we say “thank you” to God we are expressing our gratefulness for His blessings. It acknowledges our dependence on Him and it is essential in our relationship with Him.

Have you ever witnessed a child (or maybe even an adult) saying “thank you” knowing they weren’t FEELING thankful. They just knew they were supposed to say it.

I’ve been guilty - especially when I am in a place of brokenness.

Scripture supports that we should not only verbalize thanksgiving but ACTION should accompany our words. You know as well as I do, that “actions speak louder than words.”

So, how do we ACT thankful?

There are many ways to act out our thankfulness, but here are a couple:

1. If we say we are “thankful for the Word, thankful for Truth, thankful for Salvation…..” then we should LIVE IT, obey the scripture.

Paul said in Colossians 2:6-7 that we should “walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith (ALL action words)” and he ends these verses with “abounding with thanksgiving.”

So, if we are really thankful, we will live our faith.

2. If we say we are thankful for His blessings in our lives - food, shelter, clothing - we will SERVE.

We are called “Christians” because we are “followers of Christ.” The Bible says in Matthew 20:28 that Christ “did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many."

Our gratitude for our blessings, should motivate us to share those blessings.

Thanksgiving is two things then: what we say and what we do.

We say “thank you” with our mouths, but we must follow up with action by using our hands, our feet, ourselves in service.

Every day is a day of Thanksgiving for the believer - in words and in action!