Think About Thank: Devotions from Time of GraceExemplo

Thanksgiving means thanking one another too

Read Romans 16:3-4.

We are born, all of us, with GDD--Gratitude Deficit Disorder. The notion that everything good in our lives was given by a gracious God has to be revealed to us. Without that critically important information from the Bible, we would live in the delusion that we made everything ourselves, or worse, that we were at the mercy of the gods of luck.

Learning to say thank you to other people is also learned behavior. We see ingratitude in our children and work hard to teach them how to show appreciation. We make them write thank-you notes to their grandparents for birthday gifts. But let’s not assume that we grown-ups are totally healed. We can be terrible takers too.

St. Paul’s letters are masterpieces and models of GDD therapy. The opening words of each are full of praises and thanks to God. But the final verses usually carry his heartfelt words of appreciation to the people whose sacrifices, hard work, and passion made possible a community of faith (Romans 16:3-4).

How many people have you thanked this week? Does your church have a thanking culture? Does your spouse feel appreciated? Do the people you work with ever hear praise from you?