The other day, I was talking on the phone with my son who is away at college. I had done something for him, and he was telling me how much he appreciated it and how much he appreciated me. He had done something for me in return, and I began to thank him! He said, "Mom, the reason I did that for you is because I knew it would bless you and make you happy." He expressed his gratitude with his words, and then he expressed it with his actions.
As parents, we want our children to grow up and be thankful. When they are little, we teach them to say thank you and have them repeat after us. When they grow up, we want them to do it on their own. We expect them to say thank you. But there's another level of maturity when we learn to say thank you with our words and our actions.
When my son expressed his gratitude to me that way, I thought to myself, "He is really maturing!" It made me feel like I could bless him more. I knew that my blessings weren't going to get him off track. That day my son wasn't trying to manipulate me, but his gratitude came from a sincere heart.
Hebrews 13:15-16 says, "Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."
We need to be quick to thank God with our words and show God our thanks by stepping out and doing something good! When we get to the place where we show our thanks, something profound happens. The closest thing to God's heart is helping hurting people. When you step out and help others, that gets God's attention! He wants to bless us more so that we can be more of a blessing to others. That's the whole process of sowing and reaping!
Today, look for ways to show your thanks to God by helping others. What can you do for someone that they can't do for themselves? How can you empower someone to rise higher? How can you show the love of Jesus to the people around you? Show your thanks with your words and your actions and watch God's blessing and increase flow to every area of your life!