God’s not mad anymore, so why are we?

We often speak of gratitude around Thanksgiving, but why not step into the righteousness of God all the time and be grateful (in awe… astonished…) not in ourselves, but for what we can see when we look from His perspective.

Gratitude is essential. It is seminal. It is impossible to avoid because the need for it is so great, rising out of the fact that nothing we have comes from us. If one piece of it were mine — one small portion, the result of my hard work, connections, earning power, or pedigree — then I would not need to give thanks for that. I would take it to myself because I deserved it. But that is not the case. All things come from God. The worst and the best are both from Him, and so they both call for us to give thanks.

“Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20)

There is also a reduction principle to gratitude. It simplifies our lives. We are either worrying or giving thanks, complaining or giving thanks, conniving or giving thanks, stealing or giving thanks, lying or giving thanks, envying or giving thanks, lusting or giving thanks, cheating or giving thanks, blaming or giving thanks. See how much easier it is to just give thanks? Only one thing to think about.