Verbalize Gratitude

‘Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy’ Ps.100:1-2.

The second thing we need to know about gratitude is that silent gratitude is of no value to anybody. In fact, silent gratitude is ingratitude. Verbalize your gratitude. A mother needed to teach her son a vital lesson in gratitude. After every meal she would say to him, “You have not said thank you”. The mother wanted her son to always say “Thank you” when he eats so that he doesn’t take things for granted. And the boy would say, “Why do I have to say thank you? My thank you is invisible, mum, but it is there”. The mum got frustrated trying to teach the boy how to say thank you. Then finally she got an idea. She set the table with her best dishes and silver wear, everybody was seated ready to eat and the boy opened dish after dish but and it was empty. Confused, he looked to his mother but she looked normal. She told him to bring his plate and she went through the motions of dishing his food and gave him his plate. The boy exclaimed, “Mum! There is nothing here”. And the mother said, “It is invisible food for invisible gratitude”. We have to verbalize our gratitude.

If you are married and you cannot say thank you to your spouse, then something is wrong with you. You have to learn to say thank you. You claim it is your right. Have you not heard how many spouses don’t do stuff for each other? Who says it is your right? So say out loud, “Thank You Jesus”. We have to verbalize our gratitude. ‘By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name’ Heb.13:15 [KJV]. The Hebrew word for gratitude is hoda’ah and it is the same word for confession. So gratitude is to confess dependence, to acknowledge that others have the power to benefit you. Gratitude is to admit that your life is better because of the efforts of others. The only picture that stood on the wall in a very great man’s office was the picture of a turtle on a fence. When he was asked why this picture, he said every time he looks at the turtle he knows the turtle did not get on top of the fence by itself. “I have to be grateful to the people God has put around me that add value to my life”. So he keeps it consistently in front of him.

Thought: what must you keep before you, consistently, to fuel your gratitude?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You for choosing me, I could never have chosen You. Thank You for holding my hand every step of this journey, in Jesus Name.