The Heart Language of Thankfulness
How many ways can you say ‘thank you?’ Ever tried ‘Hvala’ (Bosnian), ‘Dank u’ (Dutch), ‘Merci’ (French), ‘Terima kasih’ (Indonesian), ‘Obrigado’ (Portuguese), or ‘Salamat po’ (Tagalog)?
W
E DON’T JUST USE WORDS to communicate thanks; we show it through actions, time spent with others, and sometimes in humble silence before the Lord. You could say that each of these is evidence of
a heart language of thankfulness. In this month of thanksgiving, focus on living out your thankful heart every day in new and different ways. Today may not be the best day you’ve ever had. The past month or even year may have brought difficult circumstances, trials to weather, or illnesses that have tested not only your endurance but the very core of your source of joy. First Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always! Pray
constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (HCS). If you take nothing else away from reading this today,
remember this—because of what Christ has done for you, you have every reason to be continually thankful! Scripture doesn’t tell us to rejoice or be thankful in the happy times, when the condition is healed, when everyone gets along, or when you get the dream job. It tells us to rejoice always and give thanks in everything. There’s a lot of freedom in that, you know. Because of the
free gift we didn’t earn, we get to live out each and every day will never ending joy! We teach children to say ‘thank you’ for birthday gifts and when someone pays them a compliment. As adults, we can get stuck in the mindset that someone has to do something for us or things have to go our way before we can show thankfulness, even to God. Let’s break free from that, and consider how we can express our thankful hearts and encourage others to do the same.
By Melanie Ratcliffe Women’s Ministry Strategist
email Melanie Ratcliffe
melanieratcliffe@scbaptist.org
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20