Title: Thanksgiving makes you happy
Contents
Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Title: Happy are those who are grateful
According to the Jewish Talmud, the wisest person in the world is a learner.
The strongest person in the world is the one who overcomes himself
It is said that the happiest person in the world is a person who lives with gratitude.
So, to be the happiest person, you must first be a grateful person.
As Hana Nam’s people, we should live with gratitude anytime, anywhere.
It's easy to be grateful when you can.
This is because thanks will come naturally even if no one does it.
The question is, how can you be grateful when you can't be grateful?
How can you be grateful when you are angry, annoyed, tired, and want to sit down?
Our middle and high school students finished their midterms by this week?
Did you do well on the exam?
I took the midterm exam and my score was lower than I expected.
Even though I studied hard, my grades are poor.
What do you think then?
I tried so hard, but when I see scores like this come out, would I despair that this is my limit?
Or would you like to admit that this was your skill and try again?
When my grades go up, I rejoice and say thank you to God, and I give thanks, which I usually don't do well, and express my gratitude.
But the score went down.
It would be okay if everyone else fell together, but everyone else went up and only me fell. What would you do at that time?
It would be uncomfortable and unpleasant to meet people you know.
Even the church you used to go to will not want to go.
There are some students who blame God.
I'm not talking about our secondary school students.
It happened at the school where I worked before.
Even though I prayed like that, I blame God for not improving my grades.
He doesn't even go to church.
The problem lies here.
The problem is that it's easy to be grateful when one's circumstances and circumstances are good, but it's really difficult to be thankful when things aren't good.
What does Paul say in today's text?
I say thank you for everything.
Always be grateful for everything, regardless of cause and effect.
When we are happy and happy, anyone can be grateful, but when it seems impossible to be thankful, no one can be thankful.
So, how should we be thankful for everything?
First, we must be thankful for what we have been living up to now by the grace of God.
There is a saying called ingratitude.
It refers to a person who forsakes grace.
There is no one in the world who does not live without grace.
God's grace, parents' grace, teachers' grace, neighbor's grace, farmer's grace, etc. We live in countless blessings.
In 1 Corinthians 15:10, Paul confessed that it was by the grace of God that I became who I was.
If we say that we have lived by God's grace to this day, our junior high and high school students who are still young may not have the realization because they have not lived much, but it is certain that God has given us grace.
It is grace to give you air in the seemingly insignificant atmosphere, and it is also grace to give you adequate sunlight and water.
The person who received the grace does not have to return the price to the person who gave it back, because grace is given for free.
But thank you.
If you have received grace, you must become a person who can be grateful.
In Psalm 44:8
All day long we have boasted in God; we will give thanks to your name forever and ever.
Second, we should be thankful even when we cannot be thankful.
There are many reasons why the United States has become a prosperous country in such a short period of time, but it is said that the biggest reason is that the word "thank you" is used the most and greetings are the best.
So, it is said that the first thing that Koreans feel embarrassed about when they immigrate to the United States is greeting others and saying thank you.
In the Bible, there is a person who gave thanks the most.
That's David.
All of the psalms written by David are thankful.
Nor did David have much to thank God for.
The only thing he was grateful for was that the name of Jehovah was so grateful.
It is such an honor to be able to call his name and live before him.
When the son born to Bathsheba died because of his sins, he fasts and prays for a week.
But God kills the son.
But when he heard that his son had died, David washed himself, anointed himself with oil, changed his clothes, and went into the house of the Lord to worship.
If his son died, why did he worship him?
Why would you be grateful?
David trusted God to the end.
I think this pain made me know the love of God once again.
So thank God
Gratitude makes you happy.
Is your current environment an unappreciable environment?
If so, learn to be grateful through that environment.
That's what God wants.
Give thanks in everything, this is God's will.
A life of gratitude makes our lives rich.
The word rich means a lot.
But what matters is what is rich.
If you have wealth, you will live a little more comfortably in the world, but even if you are wealthy, if you lack gratitude, you will always want more and live in greed.
And can we be satisfied with the wealth of knowledge?
Studying does not give satisfaction as they say that after receiving a Ph.D.
What will satisfy you?
That's thanks.
Only a grateful heart can give you satisfaction.
No matter how precious or expensive you are, you cannot become wealthy if you are not grateful.
Even if you are not materially prosperous, if you have peace in your heart and have gratitude, you will become rich.
Even if you don't study well, even if you don't have money, even if you're ugly and unappealing, if you can live thankfully to God, that's happiness.
Wealth is an absolute, not a relative concept.
Our life as believers is also an absolute life.
No one else can say thank you for me
Living before God is always important to me, not to other people.
Do you, students, want to live life richly?
If so, please buy it with thanks.
I hope students and I will say thank you the most during the day.
We hope that our middle and high school students will be grateful for living by God's grace, thankful for being able to be thankful even in an environment where we cannot be thankful, and thank God for enriching our lives.