![]() ![]() Like Jesus, when we give thanks even when we don’t have enough – or even before we have what we need – then we are showing that we trust God to provide for our needs. Like Jonah, if we give thanks in dire circumstances, we are showing that we trust that God is in control. When we gives thanks even in trying times, we show our trust even more. When we thank God for the blessings in our lives, we acknowledge that he is the source of all good things. We can be thankful for the good things in our lives and acknowledge that all good things come from God. Gratitude is important to God because it shows our trust in him. This is another important lesson that we learn about gratitude in the Bible: we can give thanks even in dire circumstances because we know that God is in control. While still in the belly of the whale, Jonah gives thanks to God. Jonah, after volunteering to be thrown overboard in order to save the other men on the ship (because of a storm that threatened to capsize them, brought on by Jonah’s fleeing from God’s plan), lands in the belly of a whale. Jonah gives us another great example of gratitude in the Old Testament. ![]() And then, quite literally, gratitude turns what he has into enough. Jesus is not grateful here because he has enough. In this story, Jesus shows us how the role of gratitude and blessing is reversed from how we normally think of it. He then gives thanks for the food, breaks the loaves, and has his disciples distribute them to the people, famously feeding over 5000 people with what they had. The disciples reply that they only have five loaves of bread and two fish. Instead, Jesus tells his disciples to give the crowds something to eat. The disciples tell Jesus that he should send the people away so that they can go to the villages and buy themselves food. In the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus and his disciples find themselves in a remote place with a large crowd of people as evening approaches. Jesus himself gives us an excellent example of gratitude in the Bible. ![]() Thankfulness and gratitude are the proper response to all the gifts of God in our lives, whether those gifts come in the form of things or people that bring us joy, challenges and obstacles that test us, or the ultimate promise of salvation and the restoration of all things. The Bible tells us to be thankful for salvation, and for the kingdom of God that we receive as his children. We can find Bible verses that remind us that all good things come from God, and that the proper response to blessings in our lives is praise and gratitude. We can find Bible verses about gratitude that remind us to be thankful in all circumstances, and to be thankful for each other. What does the Bible say about being thankful and grateful? And so, we can be grateful even for the hard stuff. Ultimately, God promises to restore and redeem all things ( Revelation 21:15). We can be grateful to God even in the trying times because we know that he is ultimately in control, and that he works all things for good. It is also the right response to the challenges and obstacles that we face in our lives. ![]() It is the right response to the promise of salvation and resurrection. Gratitude in the Bible is the proper response to the blessings that God bestows upon us. There are a surprising number of Bible verses about gratitude, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. ![]()
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