The Shaping Virtues - Gratitude
The manifold blessings of the gospel are ours as an undeserved and free gift from our gracious God. The only appropriate response to such generous grace is gratitude. “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart” (Psalm 86:12). A thankful heart is cultivated as we remember, understand, and appreciate the many benefits of the gospel.
We receive many graces as children of God: forgiveness, adoption, our helper the Holy Spirit, the Word illumined, the privilege of prayer, the church, spiritual gifts for the common good, and divine promises for wisdom and guidance. This list could go on and on, since we are appropriately to be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20). In all of this, God guards and protects us by giving grace in the face of temptation and spiritual armor to be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
These gospel benefits are more than enough to fill our hearts with thankfulness. Yet God has also provided blessings through his common grace. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). God has created a world that is beautiful and awe inspiring. The heavens declare his glory and the earth is full of his glory. He feeds, clothes, and shelters us, and he blesses many of us well beyond the mere necessities of life. Paul sums it up in 1 Timothy 6:17 when he speaks of “God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” And then there are the people in our lives that have been a blessing: parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends, teachers and others.
We are especially grateful for other Christians in the local church to which God has joined us. Paul’s example of thanksgiving for others is compelling. In his letters to various churches he constantly expresses his gratitude for God’s people: “We give thanks to God always for all of you” (1 Thessalonians 1:2). Each local church, therefore, is to be a community of gratitude, giving thanks to God in everything we do: “And whatever you do, in words or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
