Gratitude

New Testament scholar David Pao writes, “The apostle Paul mentions the subject of thanksgiving more frequently per page than any other Hellenistic author, pagan or Christian.” This is remarkable, given ancient wisdom’s emphasis on gratitude, especially in Greco-Roman culture. The Roman philosopher Cicero called gratitude “not only the greatest, but also the parent of all the other virtues.” More recently, scientific research has confirmed what the ancients always knew - gratitude is extremely powerful and has a profoundly positive impact on our physiology, mental health, and interpersonal relationships.

The question then becomes, why aren’t we doing it!? The reality is that ingratitude comes much more naturally than gratitude. In Romans, Paul writes that humanity's primary problem is that, “although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21).” Vertical ingratitude leads to horizontal hostility, resulting in both personal misery and interpersonal breakdown. The solution is to learn the nature of biblical gratitude and what it means to give thanks in ALL circumstances.