Gratitude

Gratitude is an important component of Christian living. We ought always to be thankful for what God has done and is doing in our lives and the lives of others. If I take serious stock of myself though, I realize that I fall far short in this regard as I do elsewhere. That idea leads me to wonder how much of what we do is motivated out of thanksgiving? 

Now I often preach that we need the gospel in our lives as a constant reminder of what God has done for us if we are to abide in Christ and grow in grace. I wonder, though, how that works. Is it a spirit of gratitude that brings about the needed changes in my life? I think that is definitely part of it. But, like all human effort, I find myself incapable of giving God the gratitude He richly deserves. I fail time and again to be thankful to Him, and yet somehow the gospel continues to convince me that I am secure in Him without reservation. It’s not that I am never thankful to Him, it’s that I’m not thankful often enough, sincerely enough or deeply enough to make me think that my gratitude alone is responsible for the changes being brought about in me. There is some power within the gospel that surpasses my ability to be shaped by my appreciation for Christ’s work. 

I don’t think the gospel really counts on our fallible ability to act out of appreciation. All human effort to achieve relationship with God, even gratitude, is limited by the sinful nature. The gospel, uniquely, teaches us something more important; that Christ’s life and death are substitutionary. He is my substitute before God. He lived a perfect life and died a sinner’s death in my place. The only thing I can do to appropriate that is to believe. But there’s even a catch to that; the faith by which we believe is a gift as well (see Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Now I would be a fool to understand (according to my limited capacity) what God has done on my behalf and not be grateful. I am extremely grateful. But in my moment of greatest gratitude I feel that what I can offer as thanks to God falls far, far short of what He deserves. So I am grateful that God does not expect my gratitude to justify or sanctify me (yes – that was a play on words). 

The gospel does not impart to us the power to be saved, stay saved, or be sanctified. The gospel is the power of God that saves us, keeps us saved, and sanctifies us. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 ESV) Somehow the substitutionary work of Christ, continuously acknowledged within us by the Spirit, is the only power on earth that can save sinners and makes real change within our lives. Any human effort, emotion or response, including gratitude, is bound to eventually fail us. But the gospel reminds us that God never fails. 

God Bless