Gratitude

Bill White | Nov 26, 2023 | Watch in español

Study Guide

Being thankful for beauty and goodness is inherent to the human experience. As believers, our gratitude should flow naturally to the person of God, who created a world full of beauty and opportunity for us to engage. And even when the corruption of sin pushes in, we can still be thankful for a God who is willing to enter that brokenness for us.
Application

  1. The psalmist links gratitude with praise that is both personal and expressive. What does it look like to express gratitude to God—both personally and in community?

  2. Although we live in a world that God declared good, it has also been corrupted by sin. How can we experience gratitude even when our circumstances are broken?

Key Points

  • As our Creator, God places us in a beautiful world and gives us the capacity to be in relationship with him and the world around us.

  • The world is also corrupt—relationships are broken, suffering exists, and sin touches us all. Yet, both the bad and the good can be received with thankfulness.

  • Our gratitude will be more expressive based on our confidence that we are personally connected to God.

  • We live in a culture that celebrates being self-made, which undermines gratitude. If we want to experience thankfulness, we must acknowledge that God created us.

  • In Jesus, we see all of God’s goodness, creative power, and love for people. Yet, Jesus lived under the corruption of the world, embracing the tension of creation and corruption in order to redeem us.

Other Scripture References

Genesis 1:31

Psalm 8:3–5

Genesis 6:5–6

2 Corinthians 5:16–17

Scripture: Psalm 100