Why Give Thanks?
The most obvious reason is God’s goodness. He deserves our thanks. “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:31). Another reason, almost as obvious as the first is that God wants us to give thanks: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The fact that God deserves our thanks combined with the fact that it is His will for us to give thanks add up to a third reason for giving thanks—we owe it to God. Does this challenge my premise that thanksgiving can change your life, since it sounds like giving thanks is just one more obligation? No way! While we tend to think that discharging a debt leaves us with less, not more, that is never the case when we give to God. After all, everything in the universe belongs to God, so nothing “changes hands” when we give to Him. It’s not as though we are providing Him with something He needs or didn’t have bef
