The Beauty of Being Grateful
IT IS not difficult to be grateful to a friend who showers you with gifts. Yet for the earth itself, for life, health and your powers of reason, how often do you express gratitude? Surely if gratitude is due from children to their earthly parents, how much more is the gratitude of the great family of mankind due to our Father in the heavens!
Gratitude is thankful appreciation, The 100th Psalm 100 of the Bible is a melody of thanksgiving. It reminds us that God is good and that “his loving-kindness is to time indefinite.” Since we enjoy the beauty of God’s earth and live by its bounty, we should express gratitude. “It is good to give thanks to Jehovah,” said the psalmist. “In connection with everything give thanks,” wrote the Christian apostle Paul. (Ps. 92:1; 1 Thess. 5:18) The beauty of such gratitude is that it opens up fountains of joy in the grateful one.
Gratitude should also be felt and expressed for our fellowman and for privileges of service. The apostle Paul began many of his letters by thanking God for his fellow believers. “I am grateful to God,” he says respecting Timothy, “that I never leave off remembering you in my supplications.” (2 Tim. 1:3) Of his fellow believers in Rome, he said: “I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ concerning all of you.” (Rom. 1:8) Paul was “grateful to Christ Jesus” because he considered him faithful by assigning him “to a ministry.” (1 Tim. 1:12) Do we express grateful appreciation for similar associations and privileges? Such gratefulness is rewarding. It awakens the eyes to the goodness of God and deepens our appreciation of one another.
Being grateful can also help those to whom it is expressed. A husband who shows gratitude for his wife’s work adds to the enjoyment of her work. A wife who never forgets the gifts of her husband does much to keep things running smoothly at home. A clerk at a ticket counter always remembered a customer’s smile and friendly way. “It helps to keep me smiling,” he said. Another worker, a secretary, stated that she owed her efficiency to her employer’s gratefulness. No matter how small her service, he never failed to acknowledge it.
The beauty of gratitude is that it makes both the one who expresses it and the one to whom it is expressed happier. It makes routine relationships more human and renders monotonous jobs more agreeable. And, above all, it strengthens our love for one another and, most of all, for our Creator. Are not these reasons enough for being grateful?