Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. —Psalm 100:4
Did you know that there are more than two thousand verses in the Bible that encourage us to be grateful? They exhort us to “Praise the Lord!” “Give thanks to the Lord!” and “Bless the Lord!” Praise focuses on God’s character and nature. It expresses awe and gratitude for who He is. Giving thanks focuses on God’s gifts and other benefits we receive from Him. It expresses gratitude for what He does. To bless God is to praise and thank Him with reverence.
Christian gratitude takes the spotlight off self and shines it on God. Rather than simply being thankful for something we have received, our hearts overflow with praise and thanksgiving for everything He is and everything He does. . . .
I think it’s fair to conclude from these frequent exhortations that gratitude is not an incidental, secondary virtue in the Christian life. It’s of primary importance. Godly people are grateful people. And they’re grateful, above all, with praise and thanks to God.1
1 Mary A. Kassian, Growing Grateful: Live Happy, Peaceful, and Contented (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2020), 9–10.
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Growing Grateful: Live Happy, Peaceful, and Contented (A 101-Day Devotional)
©2020 Mary A. Kassian
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Scripture taken from The CSB
Make it Personal
Is your gratitude focused more on God’s gifts or on God Himself? What’s one specific reason you can praise God for who He is?