circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thess 5 v 18
Why would God ask us to do that? How are we suppose to do that, especially in circumstances
that we don’t like?
So, I started looking into the power of gratitude and discovered what an amazing difference it can
make to our lives - especially when life is not as we would like it to be! There is so much research
now, monitoring how consistent expressions of gratitude can change our lives for good.
Come and join us then in the Wellness Hub as we explore together the power of gratitude. Listen
to a talk where you will hear about some of that research and then take part in several activities
based on gratitude. These activities are designed so that you can do them at home, either with
friends or on your own.
Whether you are feeling good at the moment, or feeling a bit low, come join us tomorrow, be
thankful and discover the power of gratitude in your life.
Gratitude Bible Verses of Thanks from God's Word:
“O Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come into
his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a
great God, and a great King above all gods.” Ps. 95:1-3
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the
Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” Ps. 100:4-5
"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever." Ps. 118:29
"I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.” Ps. 9:1
"I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the
Most High." Ps. 7:17
"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in
the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness." Col. 2:7
"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be
thankful." Col. 3:15
"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Col. 4:2
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom
there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God." Phil 4:6
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life
from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth
is renewed like the eagle's.” Ps. 103:1-5
Sermon: Gratitude By Valdeiza Costa
Let us open our Bibles on Psalms 136: 1 – 5, it says:
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the
God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast
love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; ..." Ps.
136:1-5
Today I would like to talk to you about Gratitude. My sermon has two parts. On the first one, I will
present you what science says about Gratitude, on the second I will talk about what the bible says
about Gratitude.
Gratitude is the feeling of appreciation and joy on receiving what one perceives as a gift, either
material provided by another person or something intangible. A response of gratitude to the
circumstances of life may be an adaptive psychological strategy and an important process by which
a person interprets their everyday experiences positively
Research has shown that gratitude makes people happier, more considerate and better evaluated…
Studies on interventions have shown a relationship between gratitude and well-being. In this sense,
in 2005 Seligman, the father of Positive Psychology, conducted an intervention that consisted of
writing a letter of thanks and delivering it to the person concerned. The results showed increased
happiness and decreased depressive symptoms in a month.
In this regard, Lambert, Fincham, and Stilman (2012) show that gratitude is related to a lower
incidence of depression and suggest that positive emotions may be one of the mechanisms that
mediate the relationship between the two variables. Watkins (2004) proposes a series of
mechanisms to explain how gratitude can influence subjective well-being. First, he suggests that
the perception of positive developments as ‘gifts’ may enhance well-being. Second, the practice of
gratitude can function as a survival mechanism in times of adversity by offering a new perspective,
which helps repair the mood after a stressful event. Third, gratitude can increase the accessibility
of pleasant memories.
Several authors postulate the existence of a relationship between forgiveness, gratitude,
autobiographical memory and psychological well-being mediated by cognitive and affective
changes. Therefore, the implementation of an intervention based on these factors can contribute to
improving people’s welfare. In this sense, a very important study whose overall objective was to
increase the quality of life in people over 60 years through a positive psychology-based intervention
based on autobiographical memory, forgiveness and gratitude enabled them to enhance their
psychological well-being and life satisfaction by reducing their levels of anxiety and depression and
increasing specific memories.
There are many studies; however, I would like to highlight a study called “Gratitude toward God,
Stress and Health in Late Life” that tried to see if feeling grateful to God reduces the deleterious
effects of stress on health in late life. The data suggest that older women are more likely to feel
grateful to God than older men; the effects of stress (e.g., living in a deteriorated neighbourhood) on
health are reduced for older people who feel more grateful to God. However, the analyses indicated
that the potentially important stress-buffering properties of gratitude toward God emerge primarily
among older women but not older men.
Are you thankful no matter what? Perhaps you have lost your job recently, as the economy has
continued to struggle. Or you may have lost your health or a loved one like my family. Such
circumstances can be tremendously difficult. But even so, we all have much to be thankful for. Look
with me at the story of a man who had every right to be bitter—but wasn’t. Try to figure out who is
him.
I can imagine: The next footsteps in the corridor, he knew, might be those of the guards taking him
away for his execution. His only bed was the hard, cold stone floor of the dank, cramped prison cell.
Not an hour passed when he was free from the constant irritation of the chains and the pain of the
iron manacles cutting into his wrists and legs.
Separated from friends, unjustly accused, brutally treated—if ever a person had a right to complain,
it was this man, languishing almost forgotten in a harsh Roman prison. But instead of complaints,
his lips rang with words of praise and thanksgiving!
The man was the Apostle Paul—a man who had learned the meaning of true thanksgiving, even
amid great adversity. Earlier, when he had been imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote, “Sing and make
music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20, NIV).
Think of it: Always giving thanks for everything—no matter the circumstances! Thanksgiving for the
Apostle Paul was not a once-a-year celebration, but a daily reality that changed his life and made
him a joyful person in every situation.
Being grateful to God for all His blessings should be one of the most distinctive marks of the
believer in Jesus Christ. We must not allow a spirit of ingratitude to harden our hearts and chill our
relationship with God and with others.
Nothing turns us into bitter, selfish, dissatisfied people more quickly than an ungrateful heart. And
nothing will do more to restore contentment and the joy of our salvation than a true spirit of
thankfulness.
In the ancient world, leprosy was a terrible disease. It hopelessly disfigured those who had it, and it
permanently cut them off from normal society. Without exception, every leper yearned for one
thing: To be healed.
One day 10 lepers approached Jesus outside a village, loudly pleading with Him to heal them. In an
instant He restored them all to perfect health—but only one came back and thanked Him. All the
rest left without a word of thanks, their minds preoccupied only with themselves, gripped with a
spirit of ingratitude.
Today, too, ingratitude and thanklessness are far too common. Children forget to thank their
parents for all that they do. Common courtesy is scorned. We take for granted the ways that others
help us. Above all, we fail to thank God for His blessings.
It can be said that Ingratitude is a sin, just as surely as lying, stealing, immorality or any other sin
condemned by the Bible. One of the Bible’s indictments against rebellious humanity is that
“although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him” (Romans 1:21,
NIV). An ungrateful heart is a heart that is cold toward God and indifferent to His mercy and love. It
is a heart that has forgotten how dependent we are on God for everything.
From one end of the Bible to the other, we are commanded to be thankful. Gratitude is the natural
outflowing of a heart that is accorded to God. The psalmist declared, “Sing to the Lord with
thanksgiving” (Psalm 147:7, NIV). Paul wrote, “Be thankful” (Colossians 3:15, NIV). A spirit of
thanksgiving is always the mark of a joyous Christian.
Why should we be thankful? Because God has blessed us, and we should be thankful for each
blessing. Here's my advice to us all: Just try to slow down a little today. Keep your eyes open. Look
around you, look up or look into the eyes of the people you pass. Take time to notice and appreciate
the beauty of the world around you, and take a few extra minutes to write it all down. I offer you this
opportunity as I have printed the first two pages of your own Gratitude Journal. You can make
copies of this, maybe for each day of 2019. I am sure that if you do so, this will be one of the
happiest years of your life.
You’ll be surprised how gratitude can change your whole perspective on life and give you reason
upon reason to praise the Creator of it all.
Furthermore, there are some tips that I think might help us find our joy in true Christian gratitude
1. Lower Your Expectations
“For everything, there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven… A time to cry and a time
to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 , 4
Christians have no problem saying: “I don’t deserve this good life that I have!”… but in reality, don’t
we struggle with God? Don’t we ask Him for something greater?
• A marriage free from conflict?
• Children who are obedient to their parents and teachers and liked by others?
• A life free from disease and pain, both for us and our loved ones?
If we believe we deserve all of this, isn’t that pride?
And isn’t this the very death of our joy and thankfulness? Isn’t pride the death of so many good
things in our life?
It’s been said that pride was Adam and Eve’s first sin. When the snake suggested to her that God
was holding out on her, she latched on to that. Her pride was winning the battle, and she was no
longer thankful for the Garden, only ungrateful for what she didn’t have.
That was the day that Eve’s joy was lost.
2. Give Thanks for the Hard Things
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
James 1:2
Joy isn’t the opposite of trouble, it’s a choice you can have despite your trouble.
You can choose joy in the middle of a broken family, memories of a painful childhood, your own
failing health or even when you lose a loved one.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, troubles might be your bridge to true thankfulness.
3. Be Humble Towards God
“Look now; I am He! There is no other god but Me! I am the One who kills and gives life; I am the One
who wounds and heals; no one can be rescued from My powerful hand!” Deuteronomy 32:39
Wow.
God’s heart is good because God is good. And God is love. (1 John 4:16 ) He’s weaving us into a
grand tapestry, and when he cuts our thread or hides our thread behind others… our pride flairs up
and we get upset. Because like Satan himself, we think, we can do a better job of this “god thing”.
And we can’t. We are sinful and have selfish motivations. We want our thread to not only remain in
the tapestry but for it to be the star of the show. For our loved ones to stay on earth, but “Precious in
the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.” Psalm 116:15
We want our lives to be free of trouble, but “we know that for those who love God all things work
together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28.
We would choose the things that God chooses if we knew God.
4. Allow God To Use You, Even If It Means That He Will Break You
Isaiah 64:8 “And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are
formed by your hand.”
Have you ever seen a potter give up on a piece of wet clay? I haven’t.
However, I have seen a potter give up once the clay is no longer pliable or usable.
Don’t allow yourself to dry up. Stay hydrated in the Word of God
God will always use us, the clay, for His purpose. He’s the potter… and we don’t get to choose if we
turn into a statue, a vase, a jar, or a plate. We can pray that God will use us for His glory, but we
don’t necessarily get to choose our path for that glory. Sometimes that glory is seen in our
weakness… in our eventual redemption… or even in our battle with disease, with no healing in sight.
Our Father is using you for great things, and it’s only through His eyes that we can clearly see our
place in His masterful plan.
Let’s be thankful for God’s knowledge. Even when we don’t understand it.
Amen!
