"Giving Thanks in Everything"
- Derek Staples
- | Sep 29, 2008
- | Series: Monday Morning Manna
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"Giving Thanks in Everything"
"Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
(I Thessalonians 5:18)
Adrian Rogers often declared, "A Spirit-filled Christian is not grumbly hateful; he's humbly grateful. He is giving thanks - not sometimes, but always - for all things." Think with me for a moment about the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Paul states, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
It is obvious why love leads the list. Absolutely nothing displays the power of the Spirit-filled life more than a Christian displaying the agape love of Christ. Yet, it may seem insignificant that joy precedes peace, patience, kindness, etc. Joy is the sign of the depth of our spiritual maturity. Christ has released us from the power, penalty, and presence of sin forever. The natural response to these things in a believer's life is unspeakable joy.
Paul declares that is God's will for us to give thanks. To give thanks is to acknowledge the fruit of God's Spirit in our lives. The joyous Christian life leads us to give thanks on a regular basis. To regularly give thanks to God for His gracious abundance in our lives leads to joy.
What robs a believer of joy? What causes a believer to neglect praise to God for His saving presence? It is simple. SIN! Sin in a believer's life is no longer the natural thing to do. Paul states that we "have died to sin and that we are no longer to live in it!" So, unconfessed sin takes away our desire to give thanks. Unconfessed sin takes away the joy that the Spirit of God produces in all who believe. Unconfessed sin removes the urgency for us to seek after "God's will for us in Christ Jesus."
Are you regularly giving thanks? Are you daily expressing joy in your Christian walk? If not, what has taken its place? What sin remains in your life that has removed your desire to walk in the will of God? Why not start your week by declaring right now, your desire to give thanks, to live the joyous life, to walk according to all that God commands?
Until Next Week,
Dr. Derek