12 Reasons to Thank God
12 Reasons to Thank God
Thanksgiving is a way of showing an appreciation to someone for something he/she has done to us. In this world, many people express their gratitude to people who have done good things to them. But a look at Scripture reminds us to be "giving thanks to the Lord, our God."
The Bible clearly instructs us to put our eyes on the Heavenly Father, the true source of every good thing in our lives. He is the One who graciously gives us “good things” of all kinds, including free gift of life, and our natural response should be thanking Him specifically and unconditionally.
Having an “attitude of gratitude” strength our spiritual and physical health, and it’s a mindset we should cultivate. Psalm 100:4 tells us to praise the Lord, our God with gratitude, “Enter his gates with Thanksgiving and his courts with praise; Give thanks to him and praise His name” (Psalm 100:4). Thanksgiving is one of the most powerful ways to gain access into the presence of God and make him bless us as His children.
When expressing our gratitude to the Lord, we should do it privately anytime. However, there’s something very special about gathering together to express gratitude to God.
Many verses all through the Bible reminds us to be thankful persons to God, as he is our Creator and Sustainer. The list of things we should praise Him for, is endless. This article will take a look at a few reasons to give thanks to God all the time. “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods” (Psalm 95:2-3). Psalms 69:30 “I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.”
12 Reasons to Thank God
1.Giving Thanks for His Endless Love
In the Bible, 1 John, the disciple says straight out that, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). In Scripture, we see those that received and embraced His unconditional love, they humbly and joyfully thanked the Lord for it. Similarly, 1 Chronicles 16:34 tells us to be thankful to God, for he is good, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good...” (1 Chronicles 16:34).
In Psalm 106:1, the Bible is reminding us to be grateful to Lord, our God, for his endless love for us, “Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 106:1). “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind…” (Psalm 107:15).
2. Giving Thanks for His Provision
We should be thankful to the God, for everything we have. Everything we see, is he who gave us, including the free gift of life we have this particular time. From the earliest days of the Israelite nation, God has delivered His people from, and led them through, all sorts of trials and hardships. God is good all the time, and his endless love is still with us even in our hard time.
In Psalm 28:7, it is written that we should put a trust in him, because he is our helper, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise him” (Psalm 28:7).
Similarly, it is also written in Daniel 2:23, that we should be thankful to our God for everything and we need to praise him, “I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: you have given me wisdom and power…” (Daniel 2:23).
God wants us to recognize that He, and no one else, is our Provider of everything we have, and to hear our response. “Do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:19-20).
3. Giving Thanks for His Forgiveness
King David and the disciple Peter are two examples in Scripture of men who were impacted by their sinful choices, and later received the forgiveness of God. Both were deeply changed in the process. Even when we sin a multiple of times, still the Lord, our God forgives us endlessly, when we ask him for forgiveness. “I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me” (Isaiah 12:1). “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins…” (Psalm 103:2-3).
King David knew how to give thanks in the midst of trouble he was facing, writing, “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds” (Psalm 9:1). His words explain how gratefulness reveals the condition of our hearts more than it does what’s going on around us in our situations.
4. Giving Thanks for His Creation
God is the one who created heaven and earth, including everything we see around us. It was just His pleasure and ours, to create this earth and for this reason, we should be grateful to him. “Give thanks to the Lord of lords: to him who alone does great wonders, who by his understanding made the heavens, who spread out the earth upon the waters, who made the great lights - the sun to govern the day, the moon and stars to govern the night…” (Psalm 136:3-9). “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign” (Revelation 11:17).
5. Giving Thanks Honors God
We should be thankful to God for everything we have and in any situation we go through. Even in hard time, we should remember that he is always there for us. Psalm 50:23, explains how giving God a thank offering brings honor and glory to His name. Like Psalm 116:17 states, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.”
6. God Gladly Receives Our Praise
As of today, God has done many things to us because of his endless love. Even if we wrong him, still he is there for us. Being gratitude to God hardly seems like enough in light of all His blessings to us. But whenever we do that, He gladly receives our praises. Studying verses in the Bible about thankfulness brings us to a place of humility, and a place of joy, and that is how God wants us to live every day. “What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people” (Psalm 116:12-14).
7. Giving Thanks Strengthens Our Trust in God
Giving thanks to God frees us from fear and strengthens our trust in Him even when we are going through hard times. As Isaiah 12:2 assures us, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord Himself, is my strength and my defense. He has become my salvation.” Trusting in God, brings no reason to live in fear or worrying about our tomorrow.
8. Giving Thanks for he is our Savior
Jesus Christ died for us on the cross (John 3:16). He paid the price for our sin so that we didn’t have to. Jesus’ sacrifice is a beautiful example of how much God loves each of us. By thanking God we are choosing to trust Him in our situations. For this reason, we should stop living in fear and relying on our own strength.
9. Giving Thanks Is Good for Us
Psalm 92:1 assures us that, it is good for us to give thanks to the Lord, our God, even if we may not know all the benefits we’ll receive when we step out of our comfort zones and make the effort to be thankful. Like Psalm 107:1 encourages, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” Rather than looking at our sorrows and distresses, thankfulness gives us the ability to turn our focus towards God and glorify His name above our circumstances.
10. Giving Thanks for His Word
God's teachings and truths were shared even before the Bible we know today existed It was spreaded by word of mouth, other times in written form. But whatever way it reached people, the Word of God changed minds and hearts, and inspired gratitude in those that heard it.
11. Giving Thanks Chases away Anxiety
We need to be happy always, not anxious about what will likely happen to us, and this helps us to practice, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Gratefulness in us sets the atmosphere for how we face each new day based on all God gives us rather than what we may have lost throughout the year.
12. For salvation
In all situations, good or bad, we need to turn to God with gratitude. No matter what failure we have done in life, we should turn in faith to Christ and find salvation. It’s free, and it’s offered to everyone on earth, and it’s not dependent on wealth, education, good looks, friends, or influence. "We should definitely be thankful that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” (Titus 2:11).