What two words in the English language are the hardest to say? Probably “thank you.” Why do we have so much difficulty saying these two words? Often, we struggle with showing gratitude for what we get because we think that we deserve good things. Those good things which come to us are based on our Heavenly Father’s adoption of us. Often, we fail to remember that we have been adopted.

Thankfulness is rooted in knowing who our adoptive father is

Positionally, we have to remember who we are in relationship to our Heavenly Father. He chose to adopt us before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:5), not based on any merit of our own, but solely on the basis of His love for us. As we realize that He lavished His love and His identity upon us so that we would become His adopted children, we are moved to praise and thanksgiving.

We can also grow in gratitude as we learn more about God and what He has done for us (Ephesians 1:3). He continues to give His grace and His blessings to us because He is our Father. He also promises us eternal life with Him, based on our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross. He chose to save us when we were His enemies prior to our adoption (Romans 5:10).

Thankfulness is rooted in knowing our helpless state prior to our adoption

Prior to our adoption, we were sinners in need of a savior. We were not righteous people who deserved to be adopted. We are described as those who were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1-5). We were also described as sinners apart from God (Romans 5:8). The act of adoption meant that God took upon Himself the responsibility to choose to love us, since we were incapable of loving Him.

The analogy of Israel’s choice by God reminds us of our helpless state prior to being adopted by Him (Ezekiel 16:4-7), just as a newborn baby is defenseless. God did not wait until we decided to take a step toward Him, but rather chose to make us His own when we could not do anything that would please Him (Titus 3:5). Our hearts should overflow with thankfulness to Him for His selection of us to be His sons.

Thankfulness requires that we come home to our adoptive father just like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32)

The prodigal son wrestled with thankfulness to his father. He wanted his inheritance immediately, and only when he had squandered it did he realize who the giver was. At this point, he humbled himself and went back to his father to ask for his forgiveness and reinstatement as one of his servants. His lack of gratitude for what his father had already done for him caused him to leave his father; his emptiness afterwards caused him to come back to his father.

We also want God’s blessings right now, not being willing to wait and see how the tapestry of God’s actions weaves through our lives. All the while God is wanting us just to come back to a relationship with Him. He waits patiently for us to do so. We want to come back to Him when we realize we have much for which to thank Him.

The more we show our thankfulness the more we want to show thankfulness

Practice makes perfect. Our willingness to obey God in the area of giving thanks is what rockets us on the pathway of thanksgiving. We begin to find things to thank God for in our daily lives. We can deliberately slow down our lives in order to think about the things that God has done for us, in order to thank Him as soon as we remember them.

Here is an acronym to help with giving God thanks:

T – To God (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

H – Based on His holiness (1 Peter 1:15-16)

A – For adopting me as His child (Ephesians 1:5)

N – In faith now (Hebrews 11:6)

K – For His kindness to us in the good things (Psalm 63:3)

S – In suffering for His sake (James 1:3)

What about you? What are you most thankful to God for? How does knowing that you have been adopted by God make you more thankful?