Gratitude October 15th, 2023
Gracious God, thank you for all you do for us and our families and friends. Open our minds to understanding, nurture our hearts with love, and strengthen our lives with faith. Amen.
Today I’d like to talk to you about something that's very important for our lives: being grateful. You see, gratitude is not just a feeling or a word. It's a way of living, a way of seeing the world, a way of honouring God. It is being thankful for what we have, for the people who love us, for the opportunities we get, and for the challenges we overcome.
Gratitude is also a powerful tool that can transform our lives for the better. When we are thankful, we feel more positive, more optimistic, more generous, more compassionate, and more joyful. It helps us feel more happiness and peace in our lives. Gratitude is a gift from God that we should use it every day.
Being grateful is acknowledging that everything we have and everything we are comes from God. He is the one who loves us with an everlasting love. He is the one who sent his Son to die for us and save us from our sins so that someday we can go to be with our loved ones in heaven with him.
Gratitude is also responding to God's goodness with praise and worship. It's not enough to just say thank you or feel happy. We need to express our gratitude to God by our words and actions. We need to praise God and follow the example Jesus gave us to give our time, talents, and love to God.
When we are grateful, we stop complaining and focusing on what we don’t have and start appreciating what we do have. We stop comparing ourselves to others and start thanking God for making us unique. We stop worrying about the future and start trusting God for today.
In the Bible there is a good example of someone showing gratitude. It goes like this; “Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. Traveling from Galilee to Samaria, he came into a small town. Ten men met him there. These men did not come close to Jesus, because they all had a harmful skin disease. But they called to him, “Jesus! Master! Please help us!” When Jesus saw the men, he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ While the ten men were going, they were healed. When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus. He praised God in a loud voice. Then he bowed down at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” (Luke 17:11-16)
Now all ten men in this Bible story had a skin disease which gave them sores all over their bodies. They were always on their own because they had to stay away from other people because of the fear that they might infect them with their disease.
Jesus was passing through their town and had compassion on them and healed them of their disease. But of those ten men, only one returned to express gratitude to Jesus. All ten men had called out to Jesus for healing, but only one returned to give thanks.
This grateful man understood that Jesus was responsible for his healing and so he returned to thank him. Giving credit where credit is due is part of gratitude. Jesus noticed that only one gave thanks. Jesus told this story because he wanted to teach us the importance of being thankful and showing gratitude to God.
Has Jesus done great things for us? Of course, he has, but have we returned to give him thanks? God loves to shower us with blessings, but we always need to remember to thank him. It’s easy to overlook a blessing in times of need or forget to be thankful when troubled times have been put to rest. We must make certain that we don’t become one of the nine men who were so happy to be cured that they forgot who cured them.
There are many ways to show gratitude, but here are some simple ones that you can try. First, take time to say thank you to God everyday, some people even start a gratitude journal and write down three things they are grateful for each day.
Secondly, you can express your gratitude to others. Every day, say thank you to someone who has helped you. You can also write them a note, send them a message, or give them a hug. This will make them feel appreciated.
Thirdly, you can show your gratitude through your actions. Every day, do something kind or generous for someone else. You can help a friend, volunteer for a cause that you care about, donate to a charity that you support, or pray for someone who needs it. This will make you feel good about yourself and make a positive difference in the world.
Gratitude holds immense power in our lives and is a choice we make to recognize and always appreciate God's goodness even if something bad happens, God is still God, and he is working for our good.
Having gratitude is something that we should do every day. It is the key to living a happy and fulfilling life. So let us be grateful because God is great today, and every day. Let us thank God for all his blessings and let us share his love with others.
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you've done for us. You've given us so many blessings, like our families and friends. You've always been there for us, guiding us, protecting us, and loving us. As we leave church today, may our hearts be filled with the kind of gratitude that overflows into every aspect of our lives. May gratitude be our daily companion, and may we never cease to pray and to give thanks to you. We’re so grateful for your presence in our lives. Amen.