“We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Col 1:3)

I think if our own children would look back, they would admit the “downside” of their earlier Christmases and birthdays was the required thank-you notes.  For the following week seven givers would equal seven notes, which meant seven envelopes to fill out with seven stamps to place on them.

What a grief to our society when we face the byproduct of our lives reflected in our children: ingratitude! Since we don’t know how to tackle this completely, we are sufficed with a mere forced “thank you” on our way to the next thing to try to gratify them. This unending cycle gnaws in us for something more.

Is this really what the Father is after: our saying “thanks”? Recently I made a discovery: biblically thanks means (eu) good + charizomai (to give freely, gift). There’s nothing forced in true thanking, just freedom of expression for the good! This can include SO MUCH: a praise, an encouragement, a blessing, a clap, a smile, a “yes,” a good report, a raised hand, a thumbs up…

The key components of a thankful heart are liberty and good. Saying “thank you” isn’t even required. Quite honestly, probably this verbalization might even undercut the true sincerity of that rare moment.

God made everything the right way (“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free…).  He is after uncoerced free expression, not the surface level show that we’ve reduced to calling thanking.

If we can realize how desirable it is for us to freely give expression to good, and that our Father receives wide variations as thankfulness, won’t we be healed of ungratefulness? Won’t gratefulness begin to grow within us? And if it isn’t too late, our liberation can also raise up our children…