What does the Bible say about gratitude?
Feeling gratitude for life is a worthy pursuit that can make every day magical.
Whether life is good and easy or you feel like you’re drowning, taking time to feel thankful can bring a sense of profound and enduring joy.
The Bible is full of stories about being grateful, and the blessings of doing so.
What is the difference between thankfulness and gratitude?
The concepts of being thankful and being grateful are used pretty interchangeably within in the Bible — both phrases appear in stories about showing appreciation for something given by God.
Is gratitude a gift from God?
Gratitude is never referred to directly as a gift from God in the Bible. Instead, it’s presented as a good attribute that Christ’s followers sought to have.
For example, Paul the apostle usually began and ended his epistles with expressions of gratitude or praise to God.
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Examples of gratitude in the Bible
Comments about gratitude often appear in Bible stories about miracles, like the healing of the sick or feeding of huge crowds.
The receivers of these blessings gave thanks to God through prayer, tithes and service to others.
After Jesus Christ healed 10 men in Luke 17:11-19, one leper returned to thank him. The passage reads, “And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God.”
Jesus Christ often expressed gratitude to God. Before he fed the 5,000 in John 6:11 through a miracle, he gave thanks to God for the food.
Mary Magdalene was healed by Christ. To show her gratitude, she served alongside him during his ministry and was one of the first people to see him after his resurrection in John 20:1-18.
Abraham’s nephew, Lot, was captured after the city of Sodom was ransacked in Genesis 14. After rescuing Lot, his family and all of their possessions, Abraham showed gratitude to the Lord by giving a tenth of everything he had to Melchizedek, who was the king of Salem and a priest of God.
Bible verses about being thankful for the little things
While a lot of these examples of gratitude in the Bible come after a miracle, the Bible also teaches the importance of being grateful for the seemingly small things.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 reads, “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.”
James 1:17 teaches that “every good gift and every perfect gift is from above.”
1 Timothy 4:4 says, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.”
Bible verses about gratitude for friends
In Colossians 3:15-17, Paul refers to members of the church as being “one body.” Paul says to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts ... and be ye thankful.”
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him,” the passage says.
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