The Thanksgiving holiday is a great opportunity for Christians to pause and reflect on the many great blessings that Almighty God has given us.
Take time to consider how the Lord has blessed you and your family. To get you started, here are three things Christians can be thankful for.
Faith
Scripture teaches us that our faith is a gift from God.
If you’re a Christian, it is not because you are better than or superior to unbelievers; it’s because God has called and drawn you to Himself.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV).
Our spiritual lives are a gift for which we give thanks to God. It is the Lord who has called us, forgiven us, saved us and made us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4, ESV). And it is the Lord who continues to work in us as we – by His grace – are sanctified.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV).
Life
Additionally, our lives are a very precious gift from Almighty God.
“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Corinthians 8:6, ESV).
If you’re alive today, you can give thanks to God. Your existence is a gift from him.
And at Focus on the Family this year, we celebrated another great blessing. Through our Option Ultrasound program – funded by generous friends of our ministry – we surpassed an estimated 500,000 babies saved from abortion since 2004.
That’s a half million lives that otherwise would have been extinguished. We can thank God for the hundreds of thousands of babies saved, and the hundreds of thousands of moms who have been saved from the regret of abortion.
If you have ever given to our Option Ultrasound program, truly, thank you for making a difference.
Family
In his 1994 Letter to Families, Pope John Paul II wrote that man “cannot ‘fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.’ This is so because he has been created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the only-begotten Son of the Father, who became man for us and for our salvation.”
He added,
The family is indeed – more than any other human reality – the place where an individual can exist “for himself” through the sincere gift of self. This is why it remains a social institution which neither can nor should be replaced: it is the “sanctuary of life”.
Each human family is a gift from God. And it is within our families that we find meaning, happiness and support.
Now no family is perfect. Families, like all people and institutions this side of eternity, are marred by the effects of sin. But each one still reflects the self-giving nature of the Trinity and bears the image of our Creator.
If you have a family – no matter how imperfect and flawed – you have reason to give thanks to God. For there are some who don’t.
From all of us at the Daily Citizen, we pray that you and your family have a very blessed Thanksgiving!
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26, ESV).
Amen.
To speak with a family help specialist or request resources, please call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the blessings God has given us and express our gratitude for His bountiful grace and mercy. Author Becky Kopitzke recently appeared on the Focus on the Family Broadcast to share fun ideas to incorporate gratitude into your family’s Thanksgiving traditions. You can listen to “Reflecting on Our Blessings at Thanksgiving” here.
Related articles and resources:
Become An Option Ultrasound Life Advocate
President Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation Reminds Us to Give Thanks
Three Christian Thinkers to Be Thankful for This Thanksgiving
The Christian History of Thanksgiving in America
Thanksgiving Day Reveals America’s Christian Roots
Reflection on Our Blessings at Thanksgiving
Photo from Getty Images.
