Celebrating God's Goodness

Part 5: Stories of Thanksgiving

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Summary

Over the past several weeks, we have learned so much from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica. This church was a joyful, prayerful, and thankful church. And, this is God’s desire for each of us. God wants us to enjoy life always, to grow in our prayer life, and to develop an attitude of gratitude. This Thanksgiving we all have so much for which to be thankful. Take time this week to truly express your gratitude to God as well as to the family, friends, and church family God has put around you. Let’s be joyful, prayerful, and thankful every day.

Content
Showing Thankfulness

What are you thankful for today? We celebrate Thanksgiving once a year but, of course, we have plenty to be thankful for year-round. We can be continually thankful for big moments in our past, like when we finally got a break-through on a job search, or when a test for a health condition comes up negative. We can also be thankful for the little things each day, like the food on our table, or a call from a loved one, or the fact our car starts up without issue. Maybe it’s a reminder that feels old and tired, but we all really would do well to recognize the blessings in our lives. God deserves praise for the big and the small things. And when we take account of what He has done for us, we can walk with our hearts full and share love with the people around us.

A Bible story consistently used in children’s ministry to teach the importance of saying “thank you” is found in Luke 17:11-17. The story of the 10 Lepers has an even richer meaning, however. Jesus walks along the border between Samaria and Galilee -- a boundary between two peoples who were quite hostile toward one another. On those outskirts, people who had leprosy, and were thus considered unclean, were left to wait to heal before they could return to their society. Ten of these lepers asked Jesus for healing, and He told them to go present themselves to the priests who could acknowledge their healing, and they were healed as they went. Only one of the ten returned to thank Jesus, however. In fact, this one was a Samaritan -- someone who Jesus’ audience would not have included in their right to know God. The story reminds us how big the Gospel is, and how much we all have to be thankful for. 

Having Something Nice to Say

Have you ever heard the saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?” The phrase is used to discourage people from gossiping and insulting one another, and we should absolutely avoid saying things that tear one another down. But if we live by this motto as Christians, we are missing something really important. If we truly believe that Jesus willingly hung on a cross and suffered being mocked, degraded, and tortured for our sins, and that He conquered death and invites us all to accept the forgiveness of our sins and to live a life of meaning for Him, and that we can one day join Him with our Father in heaven for eternity, then we have something nice to say! In all circumstances, in all hurts and all triumphs, nothing shines brighter than the Gospel. So how could we revise the saying to reflect the reality God has created for us? “If you believe the words of the Bible and don’t have something nice to say, something is wrong!”

Ephesians 4:29 reads, “​​Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” We should be sure to use our voice to proclaim things which are good, because our words greatly impact the people around us. We are called to use our words to build others up. As 1 Thessalonians 5:12 says, we should acknowledge those who work hard and build up our faith in the Lord. In the next verse Paul goes further to say we should hold such people “in the highest regard in love.” Consider who those people are in your life, and what nice things we can say to acknowledge and encourage them! 

Paying Attention to Those Around You

Paul continues in verse 14, “And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” We are instructed to warn others because we are not like Jesus when we enable people to continue in sinful and destructive habits; true accountability is a recipe of bold faith but with deep love. We should speak the truth boldly, and with a loving posture. Galatians 6:1 instructs us to restore those caught in sin gently, and verse 2 tells us to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” While we are on the lookout to keep our brothers and sisters accountable, we should also be searching for those who are upset or in need and tend to them. Rather than be a barrier, we should be a conduit to the Gospel!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 are three short verses with wonderful guidance: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” In these ways we keep our hearts focused on the goodness of our God and position ourselves to share it with those who witness our lives. 

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