5 min read
Major Takeaways
- Gratitude is a daily practice that grows when we share it with others.
- Scripture ties a thankful heart to joy and peace and steady trust in God.
- New research links faith with gratitude and stronger support and less stress.
- This season our thanks can become food and care for families near us.
Gratitude is more than a feeling we keep to ourselves.
It is a practice that grows stronger every time we share it.
This weekend many of us are looking toward the holiday table.
Thanksgiving Day arrives on Thursday November 26 this year.
Before the big meal there is quiet work for the heart to do.
We can count what God has done and then bless somebody else.
A thankful heart rarely stays empty for very long at all.
It looks around and asks who else needs a reason to hope.
Gratitude in Scripture Points Us Toward Others
Psalm 107 verse 1 opens with a call to give thanks.
Give thanks to the Lord for He is good the psalm sings.
His love endures forever is the reason the song keeps rising.
Psalm 100 calls all the earth to shout for joy to God.
It tells us to enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts.
Paul urges believers to give thanks in all circumstances in life.
That charge sits in First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 18 for us.
Colossians chapter 3 verse 17 ties our words and deeds to thanks.
Whatever you do give thanks to God the Father through Christ.
Notice that none of these songs were meant to be sung alone.
Thanks in Scripture is a choir and not a solo for one.
Our grandparents knew that truth around crowded kitchen tables every year.
They thanked God out loud so the children could hear faith spoken.
They set an extra plate because thanks always made more room.
Visit our Spiritual reading collection for more weekend encouragement like this reflection.
What New Research Says About Faith and Thanks
Science is now catching up with what the church has long known.
A study published this year looked at faith and daily well being.
Researchers Ethan Lantz and Danielle Nadorff led the work at Mississippi State.
They studied two national samples with more than sixteen hundred adults total.
People with stronger faith reported higher levels of gratitude in life.
They also reported stronger social support from family and friends around them.
Those two gifts were tied to fewer signs of depression overall.
They were tied to lower stress and higher satisfaction with life.
The link between faith and well being ran through thanks and support.
The authors are careful to note the study shows links and patterns.
It does not prove cause on its own and they say so plainly.
Still the pattern fits the testimony our elders have always given us.
Faith that thanks God tends to lean on people and lift people.
A grateful heart and a strong village protect the soul together.
Gratitude in Action Looks Like a Full Table
This season gratitude is putting on work clothes across our communities.
In Birmingham gospel artist Mary Finch is leading by example this month.
She is an independent singer and a community organizer in the city.
She has joined with the Black Contractors Association Alabama Chapter there.
Their effort carries a simple name that says it all plainly.
Help Fill the Harvest is their theme for this Thanksgiving season.
A community gathering is set for Sunday November 22 at 4.
It will be held at St. James Baptist Christian Center in Ensley.
Doors open at 3 in the afternoon before the gathering begins.
Organizers are asking for sweet potatoes and white potatoes and greens.
Collard greens and turnip greens top the list of requested foods.
They also welcome celery and onions and green beans and fruit.
Canned goods and pantry staples will help families cook with dignity.
Financial gifts are being gathered to fill whatever gaps remain open.
That is gratitude with hands and feet and a grocery list.
Explore more stories on the Urban City Podcast home page this weekend.
Simple Ways to Practice Gratitude This Weekend
Start Saturday by naming three gifts out loud before breakfast begins.
Thank God for breath and for shelter and for one true friend.
Send one message of thanks to someone who carried you this year.
Write it and send it because spoken thanks lifts both hearts.
Set aside one bag of food for a family or a pantry.
Add items you would be glad to serve at your own table.
Call an elder and thank them for a lesson that still guides you.
Invite one neighbor to your table or to your church on Sunday.
Pray for families who face an empty chair at the table this year.
Grief and gratitude can share the same heart in the same season.
God can hold both our tears and our thanks at once.
Browse our Culture coverage for stories that honor our shared life and faith.
Carry a Thankful Heart Into the Season Ahead
The holiday season will bring full calendars and full stores soon.
It can also bring pressure to spend and to prove and to perform.
Gratitude slows us down and reminds us what we already hold.
We hold faith that carried our people through far harder seasons.
We hold family and church and neighbors who refuse to let go.
We hold a God who has made a way again and again.
May your weekend be filled with songs of thanks and rest.
May your table make room for one more soul who needs welcome.
May your thanks turn into giving that warms another home this season.
And may gratitude grow stronger in you every time you give it away.
