Soon, Thanksgiving is coming up in the United States. Originally, Thanksgiving was a day to express gratitude to God for the harvest received that year, particularly when it was celebrated by the early pilgrims to America. Since then, it’s expanded to be a day for us to think about the ways we’ve been blessed in the past year.
At its best, Thanksgiving is a reflective holiday to consider our lives and situations. It brings us together with those we care about. Most importantly, it gives us a chance to remember all that God does for us.
Generous Gratitude
Previously in this series, we’ve talked about giving time and service to God generously (you can read these here and here or by clicking the links at the end of the article). While these are good things to do year-round, this holiday season is great for reminders. And with Thanksgiving just days away, giving gratitude to God generously seems like a good reminder for all of us. So we’re going to look at some ways we can be more generous in our gratitude to God.
But first, let’s review what it means to be generous toward God. “Generous” means giving liberally or abundantly, and I see that as meaning we need to stretch ourselves a bit more in our giving, no matter what it is that we’re giving.
So how can we give to God a bit more than we have in the past? After all, there’s always a little more we can do. And this doesn’t have to be an extra hour of scripture study or some big, difficult-to-sustain thing. God wants us to do many good things in our lives, aside from things like scripture study. Don’t let this be overwhelming—remember, the smallest steps are still progress. There are plenty of simple ways to show more gratitude to God each day.
5 Ways to Show Gratitude to God
1. Prayer to God
If there’s one way I’d guess most of us have given thanks to God, it would be prayer. Prayer is such a simple way to express gratitude to God each day. We can thank Him directly for all things in our lives, big and small. From getting a job to having food on the table, our thanks to Him can be pretty detailed and specific when we make sure to thank Him every day.
Some people will sometimes choose to do gratitude-only prayers for a few days to help them refocus on their blessings and the help the Lord has given them. These can be helpful prayers when life gets chaotic because we then remember the important things we already have and—more importantly—the relationship we have with our Father and Savior.
If you aren’t sure how to approach prayer, President Jeffrey R. Holland gave us this direction that might help: “We are to employ prayer as a shield against temptation, and if there be any time we feel not to pray, we can be sure that hesitancy does not come from God, who yearns to communicate with His children at any and all times. Indeed, some efforts to keep us from praying come directly from the adversary. When we don’t know how or exactly for what to pray, we should begin, and continue, until the Holy Spirit guides us into the prayer we should be offering. This approach may be the one we have to invoke when praying for our enemies and those who despitefully use us” (“Motions of a Hidden Fire,” April 2024).
2. Recognition of God in Our Lives
God is highly involved in our lives, even when we don’t deserve it. That’s what makes Him so good and merciful. King Benjamin shows this clearly when he says:
20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—
21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
Mosiah 2:20-21
It’s important that we recognize the many ways God works in our lives to keep us alive, guide us, and support us. We can do this as we pray, but we can also do things like keep journals of gratitude or of the ways we see Him working in our lives. I’ve personally found that to be helpful because it challenges me to pause and actively look for Him in my daily life. Sometimes those things seem small, but they are still proof that He is aware of me and actively involved in my life.
3. Using Blessings from God
When we receive gifts, one of the best things we can do to show gratitude for them is by using them. Your mom gave you a sweater? You show gratitude by wearing it. You got a rice cooker for your birthday? I’d bet you’re cooking rice with it.
God’s gifts are different but no less usable and certainly more important than a sweater or rice cooker. His greatest gift to us is His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave us the incredible gift of His Atonement. We’ve also received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, living prophets on the earth today, and the scriptures so we can continually learn about our God and Savior.
Additionally, God has given us talents and abilities that allow us to create and serve in the world. We have families and neighbors to love. We have our very lives and every breath that God grants to us. We could never list off all of the gifts that God has given to us, but when you start thinking about it, there is so much to thank Him for.
Probably the best way we can show gratitude for these gifts is by using them. They aren’t doing us any good when we ignore them. So reading the scriptures and listening to the direction from the Holy Spirit and our living prophets, then following through and doing as we’re taught is a great evidence of gratitude. Applying the Atonement in our lives shows Christ that we value His infinite sacrifice on our behalf. Serving our families shows our love for them and for God. Using and further developing our lives and talents shows gratitude for those gifts.
As it says in Doctrine & Covenants 88:33:
33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
This really shows that simply trying to live your life well can be one of the best ways to show gratitude to God. There’s always a way we can do this better, but any effort in any way to live a little better and a little more fully is an opportunity to thank God for His generosity and goodness.
4. Obeying God’s Commandments
Obedience to the commandments may not always seem like a form of gratitude. But it is. Christ sacrificed so much for us, and all He really asks in return is that we come to Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit, obey His commandments, and bring others to Him. Jesus teaches this in 3 Nephi 12:18-19:
18 For verily I say unto you, one jot nor one tittle hath not passed away from the law, but in me it hath all been fulfilled.
19 And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled.
These things are challenging, but they are still relatively small when compared with the gifts we receive, especially when you consider that God blesses you even more for choosing to obey.
Obedience isn’t a payment to Christ for services rendered; it’s a clear demonstration of gratitude that recognizes our inability to ever pay Him back. We can show Him gratitude by doing the little He asks us to do.
5. Blessing and Serving Other People
We addressed some of this in a previous article in this series, but serving others also leads us to serving God. God loves His children, and He’s pleased when we serve each other as fellow children of God. And when we recognize how deeply blessed we are by God, we become more inclined to see the needs of others around us so we can extend His blessings to them as well.
Like the hymn “Because I Have Been Given Much” teaches:
“Because I have been given much
I too must give.
Because of Thy great bounty,
Lord, each day I live
I shall divide my gifts from Thee
With every brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me.”
Text by Grace Noll Crowell, “Because I Have Been Given Much,” Hymn #219
We are greatly blessed to know the gospel and our Father in Heaven. We’re blessed to understand that our Savior Jesus Christ has sacrificed for us. Each of us has unique blessings in our lives that we can carry to others and share.
The Lord does bless us, but He often blesses people through the hands of other people. This gives us the chance to show gratitude to Him and to experience for ourselves the greatness of giving.
While there are many ways we are limited as mortals, and while we can never repay our God for His overflowing blessings and love, we can still give our daily gratitude to Him. Find the way that works for you. He will gladly accept your efforts and understand your ways of expressing gratitude. And He will love you all the more for it.
Read the Other Articles In This Series
Giving Service to God Generously
Want to Read More Like This On Seeking Christ?
Themes from the October 2021 General Conference
The Price Our Father Paid for Us
How to See Christ When He Isn’t Obvious
Discover more from Seeking Christ
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