How Thankful Are You?

“Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” 

1 Thessalonians 5:18, NASB

I’m guessing that husbands or wives reading this will have different answers to the question, “How thankful are you for your spouse?” You may be one of those who have to admit that you are fixated on the negatives in your spouse. You may have a problem with the way God designed him or her. You didn’t bargain on getting someone who is so different from you.

But to remain unthankful for your spouse because you two are “so different” is a sure way to get on the Crazy Cycle! And a lack of gratitude for your spouse will not be any help in getting off.

Or you may be one of those husbands or wives who believe you have good reason to not be thankful for your spouse – at least right now – because your spouse is just plain undeserving of any thanks.

I often tell husbands or wives who are stuck in negativity to make me a list of 10 positive things about their spouse. When we are locked into a negative mindset, it’s pretty difficult to see the light. Despair and hopelessness can overcome us. “He/she will never change! I am doomed in this miserable marriage forever!”

But things are rarely this bad. After all, you married your spouse, and unless it was an arranged marriage, you chose the person you married. Isn’t there something of redeeming value left in the person you were so in love with? If you look hard enough, I guarantee you will find something that you can put on your list of positives.

Often people are surprised at how easy this is to do once they flip the switch from the negative to the positive.

That’s because being thankful has more to do with us than it does with our spouse.

Thankful people find things to be thankful for, even when things are not going well.

Don’t try to be thankful in your own power. Instead pray, “Lord, because I love You, I am asking You to make me a thankful person because my ultimate goal is to please You. Help me to be obedient to your command to be thankful in everything, even my marriage.”

This Thanksgiving, would you consider making your list of 10 positive things about your spouse? You might even decide to give your list to your husband or wife on Thanksgiving Day! I know the Lord will bless you as you “give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Have a thankful Thanksgiving!

~Emerson

Giving Thanks After Thanksgiving

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

What does giving thanks in everything mean? It means give thanks for the good things and for the things that are less than good, trusting that God is working all bad things together for good (Romans 8:28). 

Permit me to focus on the first part of giving thanks: thanking God for the good in our lives. 

How often do we give thanks for the good things? Most of us have health, freedom, employment, insurance, homes, cars, TVs, food, clothing, friends, family, entertainment, recreation, ministry, Bibles, and the list goes on. Did I say the list goes on? Yet, do we regularly give thanks to God? Or, do we feel we deserve what we do have and fixate on what we don’t have? 

For example, many wives share with me their list of negatives about their husbands. They see what their husbands lack. Because of this tendency to fixate on what they don’t have, I challenge these wives to write down all the positive things they see in their husbands and thank God for what they do have. A wife wrote, “Every day I am writing one thing I am thankful for about my husband, and then most days sharing it with him as an encouragement. I want to set my mind on my husband’s good points and am praying that God will restore (our) desire and love…” 

Giving thanks applies to all relationships! Listen to what this young man said about his girlfriend: “I realized that, if instead of focusing on the one area she lacks, I began to think and dwell on all the great and lovely things I find attractive about her, I see myself being very satisfied. I even thought, ‘What if I was married to this woman and coming home to her every day?’ My general sense and feeling was, yes, that is something I can do and would probably look forward to. I need to give thanks for her many positive qualities.” (I received word while writing this that he just proposed to her!)

For sure, when we give thanks for what we do have, acting on 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we see life and people more positively and actually find ourselves happier!

~Emerson

Excerpt from: http://emersonandsarah.blogspot.com/2009/12/giving-thanks-after-thanksgiving.html