What is thankfulness?

This is Part 2 in the “Thankfulness Matters” series. Be sure to check out the previous posts.

Until a few months ago, I didn't fully understand thankfulness (still not sure I'm there yet). I thought it was a wonderful feeling that came as a result of getting something wonderful. I thought it was a by-product of something else, a result of something more important. I was right. The problem was that I didn't grasp what it was that created thankfulness.

Thankfulness is the mechanism that takes what we've been given and turns it into motivation for what we do in response. For example, if you receive some amazing gift, what do you do in response? Depending on the gift of course, you might try to repay the giver. That usually doesn't work though. And it certainly doesn't work with God.

We can't repay God for what He's given us. Sometimes we try - and that's when we're serving God because it's our duty. We're trying to give back what God gave us. But see, that's a totally lame response. We can't make up for the gift.

That's where thankfulness comes in.

In the next post, I'll share how thankfulness comes into our response to God's amazing grace.

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