Speaking Gratitude: The Power of “Thank You”

Recently my husband and I scheduled an appointment together with our healthcare provider. We did this, not because we were sick, but because we wanted to see her before she transferred to another office. You see, over the past three years, our doctor had become like a friend to us, and we wanted to see her one last time to say good-bye, but more significantly to thank her. It was obvious that our visit and words of gratitude meant a lot to our friend. We ended our visit with a prayer for our doctor, and later that week she sent us an email, now thanking us.

The truth is there is power in our thank yous as there is infinitely more to these words than the words themselves. You see, when we say thank you, we not only communicate gratitude, but we also extend value and express appreciation to others. Not only for what they do, but more significantly for who they are. Saying thank you requires very little on our part yet has the potential of making a big impact in someone’s life.

Silent Words Are Powerless

God gave us words so we could communicate with Him and each other. Our words reflect our feelings, and with them we express emotions like love, joy, sorrow, anger, and gratitude. However, silent words, the ones we think but never release are powerless. While people can’t read our minds, they can hear our words, and so they should. And, although God hears both the words we say and the ones we don’t, still it is our proclamations of thanks, not our grateful thoughts that honor Him. The fact is thankful words, if not spoken, are missed opportunities to bless others and honor God.

Grateful People Say “Thank You”

Have you ever noticed that thanks seem to flow naturally from individuals who are themselves grateful? Well, it does, and there’s a reason for this. You see, what’s inside of us is what comes out of us. By this we can know that to be outwardly thankful we must first become inwardly grateful. For some of us this might require a bit more intentionality than for others. But regardless of personal bent or disposition, we must all commit to being thankful and to expressing thanks to God and others.

We Get Blessed Too!

The motivation for expressing thanks is honoring God and blessing others, period. But did you know that releasing thanks also blesses us? It does. Let me explain. We know from Scripture the words we speak reflect what is in our hearts. (See Matthew 12:34). This is why it’s critical to fill our hearts with gratitude. And as we do, we are personally edified and empowered to express thankfulness. In addition, the process of saturating our hearts with gratitude, has an amazing reciprocal effect on us. And what began as an expression of thanks with the intent of blessing others, results in personal blessing for us as well.

Only One Who Said “Thanks”

Included in Luke’s gospel is the story of ten lepers Jesus healed. What’s significant about this particular story, however, is not that the men were healed. Instead, the noteworthy feature of this story is that of the ten healed men, only one expressed his gratitude to Jesus.

The story begins as Jesus encounters ten leprous men on his way to Jerusalem. In response to their cries for mercy, He instructs them to go and show themselves to the priests. Potentially, not what they were hoping to hear, but regardless, they follow His instructions and begin their journey. As the men were on their way, before they ever had the chance to be seen by the priests, suddenly they realized they had each been miraculously, instantaneously, gloriously healed!

I can only imagine the sheer joy, relief, and you would think, extreme gratitude as well. But Luke is clear in reporting that sadly, of the ten men who were healed, only one returned to thank Jesus. And in response to the nine absentees, Jesus said,

“Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has [only this one man] returned to give glory to God….? (Luke 17:17-18 NLT)

If by chance you’ve ever wondered if Jesus cares about or even notices our thank yous this story clearly reveals His heart on this matter.

In closing

Saying “thank you” matters greatly. First and foremost, it matters to God as evidenced in the story of the ten lepers. Next it matters to others, as our sincere thank yous communicate a message of appreciation and value that serves as a source of encouragement. And finally, saying thank you matters to us as we too are personally blessed and mutually edified by living with a heart filled with gratitude, that then overflows with words of thankfulness to God and to others.

Coming Next Week: We’ll wrap up this series by sharing how to establish a lifetime of gratitude.

Pray

Father God there truly aren’t words adequate to express my heartfelt thanks to you for who you are and all you’ve done. You are an amazing God. A loving Father. A faithful friend. A merciful Savior. You are beyond good. I am grateful for your perfect love, complete forgiveness and constant presence. And for all of this and infinitely more, I thank you, Amen

Community Question of the Week

Has there been a time when your spoken thanks encouraged or edified someone?

Encourage others with your response HERE!