What Does It Mean to Give Thanks?

BY Jessica Lamb

Six years ago, my husband woke up to the smell of smoke filling our home. The rest of the morning is a blur—calling 911, then standing barefoot on a neighbor’s front lawn while the fire department extinguished flames on the house we’d finished unpacking only the day before. We’d moved more than a thousand miles to this new place and knew only my coworkers and a neighbor or two through brief introductions. 

People were quick to help. Near strangers offered us guestrooms and finished basements. A neighbor brought my daughter a stuffed animal to hold. My new coworkers showed up with lunch, and old friends sent gift cards. At one point, exhausted and spent, I found a laundry basket full of basic toiletries and groceries left on the doorstep of our temporary residence. 

Somehow, gratitude was easier for me in that season. The juxtaposition of kind acts and difficult circumstances kept God, His goodness, and His constancy at the front of my mind. But now, back in the fire-free routine of my daily life, I’m ashamed to say I go long stretches without pausing to thank God. I treat gratitude toward Him like a pile of thank-you notes I never get around to writing. 

Maybe the opposite is true for you. Maybe in seasons of abundance, it is easy for you to remember that every good gift comes from God, but in seasons of sorrow, words of thanksgiving stick in your throat. God’s Word to us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 remains the same: it is His will for us in Christ Jesus to give thanks in everything. 

The Bible presents gratitude as more than a box to check. It is a posture of worship, an active response to our unchanging God. We cultivate thanksgiving in our lives when we take time to notice who God is, what He has done, and what He continues to do. We can give Him thanks in every season of life because His character is steadfast. 

Giving thanks isn’t complicated, but it isn’t easy either. It is a discipline—the habit of turning our hearts and minds to the past and present work of our good God. I pray this study of biblical gratitude will bring you peace and confidence in God’s care for you, and point you toward Him in praise and thanksgiving. We have been given so much in Him.