One of the characteristics of being in love and staying in love is gratitude. Thankfulness is the expression of gratitude and gratitude is remembering the love and kindness that has been shown to you. If anyone loves another then there should be an expression of gratitude. Any act of kindness is a tangible expression of love and the giving of thanks is the least that the recipient of love can give in return. The Bible says that thankfulness was in the garden of Eden and the Bible says that the ungodly do not give thanks. Giving thanks is giving honor and respect and the lack of thankfulness is selfcenteredness and disrespect. Gratefulness is a character quality of a great person, a great friend and a great spouse. Gratefulness is a character quality of a person who knows and walks with God. Thanksgiving is expressing gratefulness and will be seen in any love relationship, whether it is a person’s love relationship with God, their love relationship in a marriage, the love in friendships and the love relationships in families.
…like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. Isaiah 51:3
God is love and He shows His love all of the time to mankind, to the righteous and the wicked. The least a person can do is thank God for His mercies. He sends rain on the good and the evil and He also causes His sun to shine on the good and the evil. He sets the boundaries for the ocean and has fixed the order of the seasons. Becoming a grateful person begins with remembering God’s love towards us. He promised that He would never flood the earth again. He has told us over and over again that we do not need to fear if we trust Him. We do not need to fear the negative opinions of the world. The climate can not change apart from God and no plague can “wipe out” the population of any nation nothing is out of God’s control. God is loving and no evil dwells with Him. We can believe in Jesus Christ and live in His love or we can choose not to believe in Jesus Christ and we will not see His love. He shows His love towards His children more than a thousand different ways and His children are forever grateful for His many acts of love because of His greatest expression of love and that is Jesus Christ going to the cross to die for our sins. When we experience God’s love we want to thank Him. When we cease to thank Him then we have forgotten His great love.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32
In a similar way, when we cease to thank our spouse for their love then we have forgotten all that has been shown to us by another. When we do not thank our parents for their love then we have forgotten the sacrifices they have made to give to us. When we do not thank our friends for their kindness in being our friend then we are again ungrateful and when we are ungrateful in anything then more than ever we are undeserving. As a person matures they realize that nothing should be taken for granted. All that we have is a gift from God, whether it is being called His child, having parents who love us, friends who we can count on, a spouse who is faithful and loving or whatever good relationships that we have been given. They are all an expression of His kindness to us. If you are grateful for what the Lord has done in your life then express your gratitude by giving thanks to those who love you.
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, Romans 1:21a
Do not marry an ungrateful person unless you want to miserable your entire life and do not be an ungrateful spouse unless you want to make your marriage partner miserable. Marry someone who is thankful and that person will appreciate you and your love for them. If you want to bring joy to your spouse then be a grateful person. Let not a day go by without saying thanks to someone for what they have done. Most important of all, do not let a day go by without giving thanks to God for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to the cross so that your sins and ungratefulness might be forgiven. Before we knew God, we were all ungrateful and selfish. It is only God’s love that can change us and change the world. When God’s love softens our hearts then we want to thank Him. It is our hardness of heart and pride that refuses to give thanks.
Instructions To A Young Life 