{"id":1195,"date":"2021-11-25T10:34:59","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T15:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2021-11-25T10:34:59","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T15:34:59","slug":"give-thanks-anyways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/25\/give-thanks-anyways\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Thanks Anyways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gratitude and thanksgiving are frequently presented as synonyms.

But they\u2019re not quite the same thing.

Gratitude is an inner disposition \u2013 a deep-seated feeling that when it comes to the best things in life, all we can do is receive them with empty hands.  Gratitude springs from grace. 

Thanksgiving isn\u2019t a feeling.  It\u2019s an action.  Thankfulness is a decision we make to say or shout aloud, \u201cThank-you!\u201d 

It\u2019s worth noting that the Bible never commands gratitude.  You can\u2019t command a feeling.  That becomes immediately obvious if you\u2019ve ever tried to \u201cfeel love\u201d for someone for whom you have no feelings of love whatsoever. 

But God nonetheless commands us to love each other.  That\u2019s a powerful clue that his prescription of unconditional agape<\/em> love is, in the end, always an action \u2013 a decision we make to bless and care for others, even our enemies, regardless of our feelings.    

Do you feel gratitude today?  Is your heart warmed by the realization that God is in control of the universe, and there\u2019s no need for you to feel anxious about anything?

Then say \u201cthank-you\u201d to God. 

But what if gratitude isn\u2019t even remotely on your radar, and you\u2019re fighting a losing battle with feelings of anger, self-pity, sadness, loneliness, anxiousness, doubt, or cynicism?  

Then say \u201cthank-you\u201d to God, anyways. 

Why?  Because God asks us to do so. 

And perhaps he does that because the more we offer thanks, even when we don\u2019t feel like it, the more our hearts will be mysteriously shaped by gratitude. 

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good<\/em>. 

May God bless you richly on this Thanksgiving Day. 
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Gratitude and thanksgiving are frequently presented as synonyms. But they\u2019re not quite the same thing. Gratitude is an inner disposition \u2013 a deep-seated feeling that when it comes to the best things in life, all we can do is receive them with empty hands.  Gratitude springs from grace.  Thanksgiving isn\u2019t a feeling.  It\u2019s an action.  Thankfulness is a decision we… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1196,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[363,362],"class_list":["post-1195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-gratitude","tag-thanksgiving"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1197,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1195\/revisions\/1197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}