CHALLENGE 3-A
All studies are available in two formats:
Read the online version of Challenge 3, Part A below.
Or download the book formatted 8.5” x 11” version. You can print this version to keep in a binder as you progress through the study.
CHALLENGE 3: THANKFUL HEARTS
Part A - Cultivating Thankful Hearts
A Double Blessing
Mary is the oldest of my four sisters. Each sister has played a unique and important role in my life. Mary played a key role in the early years of my faith development and helped me through a crisis near the end of my sophomore year of college. She lived in Portland, Oregon at that time, and I turned to her for help. I stayed with her and her husband for several days. She listened, responded with wisdom and empathy, suggested a couple of books to read, and pointed me to the Lord as the ultimate answer to my problem. That pivotal time ultimately led me to go all in for the Lord fifteen months later.
Mary was always there for me. When she and her family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, I followed their U-Haul for the first couple of days before turning south to St. Louis. She bought me two suits during my seminary years so when I preached or interviewed for jobs, I would have the appropriate apparel. I spent a few Christmases with her and her family in Ann Arbor. Mary was generous with her encouragement, hospitality, and love.
Several years passed. I graduated from seminary, was called as an associate pastor at a supportive church near Seattle, and married my wonderful wife, Ellie. We were as poor as church mice but couldn’t have been happier. Mary and her husband visited us in Seattle the summer after we were married. We wanted to do something special for them, beyond showing them the sights, as a way to say “thank you” for all she had done for me. We decided go to dinner at the revolving restaurant on top of the Space Needle. We had never been to that upscale restaurant but had heard the food was good and the views of Elliot Bay and the skyline of Seattle were spectacular. Filled with anticipation, we made reservations.
That evening was like a fairy tale. There was a cloudless sky as the restaurant rotated 360 degrees every hour. We watched the ships, sail boats, and ferries on the bay before the sunset and then the lights came on in the high-rise buildings under a starry night sky. The dinner was delicious, and the service was impeccable. It would have been a perfect evening except for one thing. The prices on the menu seemed as high as the space needle itself. I had brought $100 in cash, which seemed exorbitant to me when we were living on my annual salary of nine thousand dollars. By the time the desserts were served, I realized the bill would exceed what I could pay for. I was on the edge of panic. When the check finally arrived it was north of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, not including the tip. I felt humiliated and wondered if they would let me pay it by installments or if I could work it off washing dishes. I knew that I needed to humble myself and ask Mary for a small loan, in spite of the fact the meal was intended to be a thank you gift for her.
I was working up my courage to confess that I did not have sufficient funds (and no credit card) to pay for the meal. However, just as I was about to do that, the waiter came and picked up the bill and told me it was being comped. I didn’t understand what that meant. He explained that the meal was complimentary. There was no charge. I was speechless as he walked away with the bill. A few moments later, Russ Goodman, the manager of the restaurant appeared at our table. He confirmed there was no charge, the tip was also covered, and then handed me a free parking pass for the parking lot below. It was all free.
I barely knew Russ. He was a member of the church I served, but I barely knew him and had forgotten he managed the restaurant. In the years that followed I learned that this was typical Russ. But at that moment, I was too stunned to comprehend everything that had transpired. One thing was very clear to me: my heart was overflowing with gratitude. I wanted to hug Russ and shout “thank you!” I still feel that way as I recall that evening. Decades later, it brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart. Feeling gratitude and expressing it through saying “thank you” is more than a momentary response. Life is just better when we have thankful hearts. The more you cultivate heartfelt thanks, the more you enjoy life.
A Joyful Privilege
Challenge #3 is cultivating a thankful heart. Giving thanks is simple and yet profound. We never stop giving thanks because God never stops giving. Giving God our heart-felt thanks is an essential but joyful privilege for disciples of Jesus. We cultivate thankful hearts at all times and in all circumstances. Giving thanks keeps us centered on God instead of ourselves, and lightens the burdens we carry. Giving thanks is a declaration of faith, affirming the truth of God’s goodness which we will look at more closely in Part B of this challenge, and the simplest form of prayer and worship explored in Part D. Giving thanks publicly encourages and strengthens the faith of others. In Part C we will look at how giving thanks protects us from the danger of legalism and an attitude of entitlement—the belief that God will love us more if we follow his rules and work hard for him. No, God already loves us to the maximum—as much as he loves Jesus.
Feeling grateful for a gift is natural and giving thanks needs to become an essential component of every disciple’s daily routine. Thanking God is not difficult to do, but is even easier to neglect. It follows faith in the natural order of building a relationship with Jesus. Consider and commit to your heart the progression below:
GRACE - GRATITUDE - GOOD WORKS
The life of the disciple is a response to God’s grace—God’s undeserved but life-giving and life-enhancing gifts. One could substitute the word GOSPEL for GRACE in the flow chart above. It would then look like this:
GOSPEL/GRACE - GRATITUDE - GOOD WORKS
The gospel is news of God’s amazing and undeserved grace that comes to us through Jesus. His unconditional and unfailing love are expressions of grace. Grace means that we receive something as a gift, not as a reward. Grace cannot be earned or purchased. Grace is priceless, but free. Grace originates in God. His love expressed through grace is the foundation for everything in the Christian faith, not our actions. The first response to God’s grace is, of course, faith, but the chart reminds us of the centrality of a “thankful heart” for every disciple. When our hearts are filled with so much gratitude that they overflow by giving thanks, we are able to joyfully serve God and others without feeling resentment. God’s love and gratitude, not our guilt, motivate our actions. Thanksgiving precedes good works. A thankful heart transforms serving others into a life-enhancing privilege instead of a burdensome duty.
The importance of living with thankful hearts is a thread woven through both the Old and New Testaments. “Thanks” and “thanksgiving” are mentioned in the Bible over 165 times. Giving thanks is a significant biblical theme, but one that is easy to neglect, to take for granted, or to treat as a formality. For disciples, thanking God is a delightful priority, almost as important and regular as breathing.
The importance of giving thanks is not unique to those who seek to follow Jesus. We err if we assume that the Pilgrims invented the holiday when they held a feast to celebrate their Fall harvest. They followed the OT pattern of annual harvest festivals, built around giving thanks to God. The Japanese celebrate a national holiday call Kinro Kansha no Hi, which predates Christ’s birth. The Chinese have been celebrating their traditional thanksgiving for over twenty-five centuries. God created us with the need to give thanks to someone greater than ourselves. The joy of living is diminished for those who believe there is no God and have no one to thank for the beauty they see, the mysteries of love they experience, or the air they breathe.
Modern medicine and scholarship have also underlined the importance of giving thanks. Forbes magazine (2014) printed an article prior to Thanksgiving entitled “7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude that Will Motivate You to Give Thanks Year-Around.” These benefits were listed:
Gratitude opens the door to more relationships.
Gratitude improves your physical health.
Gratitude improves psychological health.
Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression.
Gratitude improves our sleep.
Gratitude improves self-esteem.
Gratitude increases mental strength.
Scholars Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough have done extensive research on gratitude. They defined gratitude as a two-step process: 1) “recognizing that one has obtained a positive outcome” and 2) “recognizing that there is an external source for this positive outcome” (quoted in “The Science of Gratitude” by Summer Allen). According to these scholars, gratitude is more a matter of recognition than of emotion. First, we recognize the gifts and blessings God has given us, and secondly, we recognize we do not deserve those gifts. Finally, we thank God for those gifts. Emotion can be part of the process but cannot define it.
Emmons, one of the world’s leading experts on gratitude, is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis. He has done extensive research, written multiple books and dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as writing articles for the public at large. In an article, “Why Gratitude is Good”, he cites research affirming that people who practice gratitude [people who cultivate thankful hearts] experience the following benefits:
Stronger immune systems,
Lower blood pressure,
Better sleep,
More joy and pleasure,
More compassion,
Less loneliness.
Moreover, “Harvard Health,” citing Emmons research, indicated that people in his studies who wrote down things for which they were grateful “were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Moreover, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to the physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation.”
An Attitude, Not A Feeling
Emmons also noted that it is difficult for us to force ourselves to “feel” grateful, less depressed, or happy. Feelings come from the way we see the world and many other factors. “But being grateful [and expressing it by giving thanks] is a choice, a prevailing attitude that endures and is relatively immune to the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives.” Giving thanks is always one of the first things disciples do, regardless of busy schedules, challenging circumstances, or changing emotions.
Scripture affirms the same truths. The focus is not on feeling gratitude, but on doing something – giving thanks. It is by consistently and continually giving thanks to God that we develop a “prevailing attitude.” We cultivate “thankful hearts.”
A Catalyst for Enjoying Life
I believe that life is enriched by multiple components that are closely associated with the Christian faith. Among them are five that I think are closely related: love, joy, hope, peace, and gratitude (thankfulness). You get one and you are likely to experience one or more of the others. However, I have concluded that two of those qualities function as the primary catalysts for a meaningful life: love and thankfulness, because they spark or trigger the others. Gratitude is the catalyst triggering the other responses of love, joy, hope, and peace.
The principle also works if love and gratitude are swapped. The point is not to take gratitude/thankfulness for granted. Rather, prioritize and cultivate thankful hearts as an essential component in your faith journey. Giving thanks makes the journey much more enjoyable.
THINKING IT THROUGH
“All the tribes of Israel…. They come to give thanks to the name of the LORD.” Psalm 122:4
THE TRUTH: The Lord has given us myriads of priceless gifts.
THE CHALLENGE: Disciples respond by cultivating thankful hearts.
Each part of every four-part challenge concludes with a “Thinking it Through” segment which consists of a list of Scriptures related to the topic being considered, questions for group discussion and personal reflection, and notes. Each of the twelve challenges will end with an exercise to guide you through the process of naming lies, believing the truth, and clarifying the personal implications and applications of the truth to your life. Truth, if believed, must be lived, and living the truth brings personal transformation (Kingdom living). Please consider this section as a tool to help you to understand the truth, not as a test or as busy work.
Related Scriptures
Psalm 138:1 ¹ I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart; I will sing your praises before the gods.
Psalm 50:14-15, 23 ¹⁴ Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. ¹⁵ Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”
²³ But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”
Psalm 100:4 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.
Isaiah 51:3 (a prophecy) ³ The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.
Hebrews 12:28 ²⁸ Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
Colosians 3:15 ¹⁵ And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Nehemiah 12:31 ³¹ I led the leaders of Judah to the top of the wall and organized two large choirs to give thanks. One of the choirs proceeded southward along the top of the wall to the Dung Gate.
Daniel 6:10 ¹⁰ But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
Psalm 9:1 (NIV) ¹ I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
Matthew 15:36 ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to the disciples, who distributed the food to the crowd.
1 Corinthians 15:57 ⁵⁷ But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 4:6 ⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Questions
You are encouraged to use these questions for group discussion or personal reflection. Respond to the questions that are most relevant or interesting to you (I urge you to write your responses in a journal or notebook).
Read the two lists of benefits associated with gratitude and choose the three or four benefits you value most highly. Next to each benefit state why you think gratitude produces that benefit.
This challenge is called “Thankful Hearts” but could have been titled “Grateful Hearts.” Gratitude is an attitude and giving thanks is an action. Why is it important to express our gratitude through intentionally giving thanks to God?
State why or why not you believe it is possible for a person to genuinely receive God’s grace without a sense of gratitude.
In your journal, begin to cultivate a thankful heart by daily listing five to ten things you are thankful for. After writing your list each day, give God verbal thanks for each item on this list. Commit to doing this for five weeks and see if you notice positive benefits.
What other things can you do to cultivate a thankful heart? Reflect on the relationship between gratitude/thankfulness and grace. Write down your insights.
Make a list of negative things giving thanks could prevent. Example: “I think giving thanks regularly would help me reduce my complaining.” What negative attitudes or behaviors could be reduced by remembering God’s good gifts instead of taking them for granted?
As a child I was taught to say “please” and “thank you” which was considered good manners or acceptable etiquette. That association made saying thank you to God seem superficial for me, much like deciding whether the fork was placed to the right or left of the plate when setting the table. That attitude prevented me from appreciating the importance of cultivating a thankful heart for many years. How does your childhood influence how you think about giving thanks to God? (Did you give thanks before meals? Were you taught that it was not necessary to expect thanks when you completed your assigned chores? Were you expected to write “thank you” notes?)
Do you think there has been too much emphasis given to this challenge (giving thanks) or there has not been enough emphasis placed on giving thanks in the Christian community?
Notes
Early in my journey of faith, I found it difficult to read parts of the Bible because it was not organized in chronological order. Deuteronomy repeats much of what occurred in Exodus through Numbers, or the two books of Chronicles restates with a different emphasis the same events 1 and 2 Samuel covered. The books of the prophets often overlap and deal with the same events and trends. I was confused because I didn’t have a framework or timeline of biblical history. If you find it confusing, perhaps the simple timeline below will be helpful. I memorized the dates in orange which made the OT much more understandable to me.
BASIC BIBLICAL TIMELINE (Dates are approximate)
2000 BC
The call of Abraham and the beginning of salvation history (Genesis 12:1-3)
1400 – 1200 BC
The Exodus date is probably in this two-century window.
1000 BC
David is heroic king – building of the temple is planned (Solomon completed it).
930 BC
Death of Solomon. The Kingdom of Israel is divided into Judah (south, with Jerusalem as capital and the Davidic dynasty continued) and Israel (north, Samaria as capital and had multiple dynasties).
722 BC
Israel (Samaria) conquered by Assyria and the people (10 lost tribes) taken into captivity and forced to marry Gentiles. They lost their identity and religious heritage and became known as Samaritans (whom the Jews of Judah despised).
586 BC
Fall of Judah to Babylon. Jerusalem and the temple were reduced to rubble and surviving Jews exiled to Babylon.
537 BC
Exiles returned as prophesied and rebuilt walls and temple.
530 BC
Book of Malachi (last book in the O.T.) written followed by 400 years of silence (no Word from God) until John the Baptist began his ministry.
_________________
1-33 AD
Jesus was born, had three-year ministry, crucified, resurrected and then ascended back to the Father.
95 AD
John, the last surviving apostle wrote the book of Revelation (last book in the Bible) while imprisoned on Patmos, ending biblical record of salvation history until the return of Jesus.
2000 AD
Notice that about 2000-years passed between the beginning of salvation history until the birth of Jesus. Now we are about 2000-years after Jesus’ life and death. Many patterns are repeated in the Bible. These two 2000-year periods may or may not be significant, but it is an interesting topic to reflect upon.