It’s easy to feel grateful when things are going well. We feel a sense of gratitude for our health, family, friends, jobs, and blessings. But how often do we take the next step and give thanks? How often do we express our gratitude in action, not just as a feeling?
There’s a difference between feeling grateful and giving thanks. This lesson is beautifully illustrated in a story from the Bible.
The Healing of the Ten Lepers
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus heals ten lepers near a village between Samaria and Galilee. Lepers were outcasts in society back then, forced to keep their distance. But Jesus has compassion on them and miraculously heals all ten from their leprosy.
Can you imagine the gratitude these lepers felt? Their lives were transformed in an instant. The Bible says that all ten of them were healed as they went to show themselves to the priests. At this point, all ten lepers must have felt immense gratitude toward Jesus for healing them.
But as they left, only one leper returned to thank Jesus. Just one out of ten took the extra effort to express his gratitude. Luke 17:15-16 says:
“Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’s feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan.”
It’s easy to imagine that the other nine were also very grateful. But only one chose to give thanks and praise to Jesus.
Gratitude is an Emotion, Thanksgiving is an Action
This story illustrates an important truth – there is a difference between feeling grateful and actively giving thanks. Gratitude is an emotion. Thanksgiving is an action. The ten lepers all presumably felt grateful for being healed. But only one leper followed up that feeling with an action of thanksgiving.
G.K. Chesterton said, “The test of all happiness is gratitude, and I felt grateful, though I hardly knew to whom.”
It’s not enough to feel gratitude. To fully experience thankfulness, we need to turn it into an act of the will, not just an emotion. We need to move beyond gratitude and give intentional, concrete thanks.
How Can We Give Thanks?
If you’re grateful for God’s work in your life, how can you turn that into active thanksgiving? Here are some ideas:
– Lift prayers of thanksgiving to God for specific blessings
– Tell others directly how thankful you are for them
– Write thank you notes to those who have helped you
– Give offerings or tithes to God with a heart of praise
– Serve others to express gratitude for what you’ve been given
– Sing worship songs that are anthems of praise
– Celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving as a purposeful time of giving thanks
Saying “thank you” over the smallest of kindnesses make a difference. The key is moving beyond just feeling grateful and putting that gratefulness into action.
Why is Thanksgiving Important?
Taking time for thanksgiving is not just a nice idea – it’s vital for living well. Here are several reasons why thanksgiving matters:
1. God deserves our praise and thanks. We exist to glorify God, and giving thanks is an essential part of that. “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)
2. It is a form of worship. “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” (Psalm 100:4)
3. Reminds us of how much we’ve been given. Gratitude opens our eyes to see all the gifts surrounding us that we take for granted.
4. Cultivates an attitude of gratitude. The more we practice giving thanks, the more thankfulness takes root in our hearts.
5. Strengthens relationships when we thank others. Showing appreciation deepens bonds with friends and family.
This Thanksgiving, Give Thanks
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, let’s remember to give thanks, not just feel it. Who can you thank today?
Thanksgiving is more than a holiday – it’s a daily invitation to count our blessings and praise the Giver of those blessings. We have so much to be grateful for. May we not let those opportunities pass us by.
The lone leper who returned to thank Jesus models what true thanksgiving looks like. It starts with feeling grateful but doesn’t end there. Gratitude must move us to action. It overflows from our hearts in tangible acts of praise and thanks.
This Thanksgiving, determine to go beyond just feeling grateful. Make thanksgiving part of your everyday lifestyle. Take time to thank God in prayer and worship. Thank the people walking alongside you. And find creative ways to turn your gratitude into action.
The act of giving changes us. As Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”
Josh Cehulik 