The War for Thankfulness

I don’t go for anything tacky, cliche. Anything that falls into that category typically bores me.

That’s how I used to view thankfulness. In my head, I knew that Christians were called to give thanks. Yet, any time I heard it talked about or read a piece someone had written on thankfulness, it just seemed so…dull. It seemed like being thankful for everything was a stereotypically boring thing that was to be dutifully carried out.

Lately, God has been teaching me that being thankful for everything and through everything is the farthest thing from being a dull and cliche task.

Rather, in order to be thankful, we enter a great war, a tremendous battle within our soul. We’re revolting against our very nature.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reads,

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

C.S. Lewis once wrote,

“We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.”

Thankfulness is not an easy thing to come by. Everything in our flesh flees from it. It is unnatural to rejoice and give thanks in the most difficult of circumstances, yet, it is what we must do. Being thankful when we feel like we’re walking through hell on earth is our weaponry, our armor; thankfulness creates hope in what Christ is continually doing in our lives, and hope creates joy.

G.K. Chesterton, a famous writer and Christian apologist, penned,

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

He couldn’t be more correct. It will be a war within your soul to rejoice in the midst of darkness, to rejoice no matter the circumstances or how small the world views your blessings. Yet, no matter the difficulty, the war for thankfulness must be fought; it draws us nearer to Christ and drives the power of darkness out of our lives.

Every single day brings things worthy of praise, things to give thanks over. Whether it is the financial or familial blessing that has come into your life, or whether it takes all strength within you to praise God that you’re still alive and breathing, a thankful heart takes everything in life and uses it to fight for joy, for hope. A thankful heart goes to war against the powers of darkness in order to create a life centered around Christ.

Fight for thankfulness; strive to see everything in your life as a blessing to fall on your knees in gratitude to God over. Take on life with this battle cry from Psalm 106:

“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”