A Thankful Heart and a Blessed Life

Introduction

A rich relationship with God necessitates a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness for all He is, has done, and is continually doing.  Every time a Christian sets aside time to pray and meditate on the Scriptures, thanksgiving needs to be part of the conversation with our amazing God.

Please enjoy this devotional video, or stream/download an audio version below, or scroll down to continue reading.

God as Source of Every Good Thing

Every good thing we receive is a gift from God and He should be thanked since He is creator and originator of every good thing.  Listen to these passages:

"for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”  - Acts 14:17

"he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything" - Acts 17:25

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights" - James 1:17

Pattern of Thanking God

If someone were to give us a birthday gift every year, we would thank them every year. If someone were to buy us dinner every week, we would thank them every week. If someone were to do us a favor every day then we would thank them every day.  Doesn't it make sense to thank our God of every good gift for every good thing we receive every day, all the time?

"We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you." - Colossians 1:3

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God." - Colossians 3:16

Positive Psychology Findings

We would expect that what God asks His servants to do works out for our good, and indeed this is the case. God has designed us so that few things are better for our spiritual well being and mental health than cultivating a spirit of thankfulness.

Dr. Martin Seligman is the former president of the American Psychological Association. He now directs the center for positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and his findings are remarkable. In a randomly assigned, placebo-controlled experiment he and his team validated the benefits that come to those who practice a lifestyle of thankfulness.

They asked participants to take 10 minutes every night for a week to reflect and to identify and write down three good things that happened that day. They were also asked to write a causal explanation for each good thing. The good things could be small or important things.  For example it could be something like, "my husband brought home my favorite ice cream." And the cause could be because "he is always doing kind things for me," or because "it was convenient for him because he got off work early."  Or a good thing could be "I got praised at work today for my presentation," and the cause could be because "God answered my prayers," or because "I have a lot of experience in the subject matter."  Participants in this exercise were happier and less depressed than they had been at the start, and they stayed happier and less depressed even up to six months later.

Take Away: 

God is the giver of every good gift, so it only makes sense to thank Him constantly. Every time you pray, I encourage you to identify three good things that happened the previous day, the reasons why, and then thank God for them.  It will honor God and will bless you as well.  

Matt Bennett