15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17 NIV
Regardless of what we are going through, it is important to remember all that we have been given by God, and thank him with a grateful heart. Mary's Magnificat gives us an example of ways to express gratitude to God in word and song:
46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name. Luke 1:46-47, 49 NIV
We could also simply make a Gratitude List, enumerating all the things for which we are thankful. Some people use cues for their lists, such as people, places and things, or even A through Z (which can be a challenge!). Make your own list and see how many gifts God has given to you. Try this each day and see how many new things you are able to list by the end of the week. Perhaps you can post your list on our blog!
It may be easy to be grateful for some things. It may be more of a challenge to be thankful for those things in our lives that seem difficult at the time. We can learn to have gratitude for things such as loss of a job, because when God closes a door, He often opens a window on something better down the road. Or we can be thankful for an ailment that perhaps is troublesome, but teaches us to rely on God more. It can also be something we share in common with others whom we then can help through their own struggles, and we can become a good witness to them of God's love. Even a disability can force people to discover new talents or new areas of interest, such as quadriplegics who learn to paint holding a brush in their mouth. So even adversity can be a gift. How many of your difficulties can you include on your list?
The important thing to remember is that we "Let the message of Christ..." enrich our lives as we realize all that God has given us through no merit of our own, but simply because He loves and cares for us through his son, Jesus Christ. Then we also can use all of those gifts he has given us to bring him glory. We can tell others how grateful we are for God's generous gifts, or use them directly to be a witness to others for him. We then can give thanks to God in the name of the Lord Jesus every day, the most precious and undeserved gift of all!
Written by Jan Andersen, with a grateful heart
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