Merriam-Webster defines thankful and grateful in the following way:
Thankful – Adjective
- 1 – conscious of benefits received
- 2 – expressive of thanks
- 3 – well pleased; glad
Grateful – Adjective
- 1a – appreciative of benefits received 1b -expressing gratitude
- 2a -affording pleasure or contentment 2b – pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated
Understand It!
How do you define the two terms? What is the difference between being thankful and being grateful? Aren’t they the same thing? Well…. yes and no. The depth of the feeling is the difference. I believe that oftentimes our thankfulness is expressed robotically basic with verbal ease. It is customary and therefore we speak it quickly and easily without much depth. It kind of rolls off the tongue and can dissipate quickly.
Gratefulness is a much stronger response for, ” comfort supplied or a discomfort alleviated,” according to Merriam-Webster. A mere verbal thank you is insufficient to express the full amount of gratitude for the blessing bestowed. It is an action, not just mere words. There is usually intense emotion and maybe even tears of joy with this type of gratitude expression.
Cultivate It!
God wants us to have a thankful heart even in the midst of hardship. We all have our fair share of trials on a regular basis. It is a challenge to be always thankful. Just what are we to be thankful for in a time of financial worries, failing health, marital trouble, or joblessness anyway? Many of us are just left shaking our heads thinking it is utterly impossible to be thankful in everything, at all times. But nothing is impossible with God. He wouldn’t ask us to do something if it was utterly impossible, difficult – yes, impossible – no.
In difficult or sorrowful times, we are to be thankful for who God is, and for His faithfulness. Hebrews 13:5 says, ” I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” The following verse (6) completes that thought even further by stating,” The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear.” Focus on God’s strength, wisdom, and abilities instead of our frailties and lack to be able to see all that we can be thankful for. Another favorite scripture of mine that I’d like to share is Psalms 100:4-5, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations.” Giving thanks is like a key to the gated community that God lives in. Expressing gratitude and praise is like the key to the house.
Apply It
Stop all the complaining, whining, groaning, and fussing that has become the usual way of communicating. Speaking in that matter does not build morale but tears it down. God is not honored by it either. No one benefits from constant griping. Put the breaks on the car and turn it around, just like when you’ve made a wrong turn on a road trip. Ingratitude is the wrong direction and will not get you where you want to go. Look at the map, find the right road, and get back on course. Utilize Biblical scriptures as your road map. Whenever you feel tempted to complain, choose something that you can be thankful for. Work your way up to feeling honest gratitude for at least one area in your life.
You’ve heard that old saying, “Practice makes perfect.” Another common but quite fitting phrase is, ” A stitch in time saves nine.” The more you practice being thankful and expressing gratitude the better you will become at it. Also, the sooner you start applying the breaks on that old habit the quicker you will be able to stop that car from going to the wrong destination. Correcting the error sooner lessens the amount of repair time needed later. Keep referring to the map (Biblical scripture) to reconfigure the route until you have arrived with thankfulness and gratitude on board.
Remember It
Take a minute to remember a time when you really needed God to show up for you and He did! Think of a time when an answer to prayer came just in the nick of time. Can you remember a time when you were healed from an illness? Have you ever had a relational rift that was reconciled? What about summarizing your daily blessings?
Take a moment longer to pen those instances on slips of paper. Collect them to read at the end of the year or when you are feeling especially discouraged. When you read them and call to mind the faithfulness of God, your spirit will be lifted. Those faith-building circumstances are yours individually for such a time as this. We do God and ourselves a supreme injustice when we fail to remember all of the good things that we have been blessed with while verbalizing all we perceive to be lack. Expressing thankfulness is good for everyone! Do it today!