"Gratitude, appreciation, or thankfulness is a positive emotion or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. Even though our reactions to favors might not always be positive, researchers have found that people express gratitude often. Psychological research has demonstrated that individuals are more likely to experience gratitude when they receive a favor that is perceived to be (1) valued by the recipient, (2) costly to the benefactor, (3) given by the benefactor with benevolent intentions, and (4) given gratuitously....I love that gratitude seems to be so helpful to life! I think an entire blog could be written on about that alone, but what I really want to think/thank about is the four criteria in the quote, and how they relate to Christ's gift of himself to us.
Gratitude may also serve to reinforce future prosocial behavior in benefactors....
Research has also suggested that feelings of gratitude may be beneficial to subjective emotional well-being....
Although gratitude is something that anyone can experience, some people seem to feel grateful more often than others. People who tend to experience gratitude more frequently than do others also tend to be happier, more helpful and forgiving, and less depressed than their less grateful counterparts."
Valued by the recipient: How enormously valuable Christ's giving was to us! Looking at Ephesians really helps me to see how much I should value what he gave. I mean, how much value can you see in being brought back to life! Or in when we were without knowledge of God, being enlightened with Christ! Or when we were metaphorically far off, being brought near to God! What a precious gift he gave to us!
Costly to the benefactor: To benefit us Christ had to give up so much! I think we sometimes ignore the initial cost of what Christ did to give, and focus solely on his suffering on the cross and his death. Just in coming to the earth Christ seemed had to pay a price. He emptied himself to come to earth, and then he humbled himself to become a servant, till he died! What a precious gift He gave to us!
Given by the benefactor with benevolent intentions: "For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."[!] It's amazing to me that God would allow us a second-chance at what we could have had in the garden. And then beyond that he promises that this eternal life will be the 'fullest' life we have ever had! What a precious gift He gave to us!
Given gratuitously: I had to look up gratuitously, which means:
1 a: given unearned or without recompense b: not involving a return benefit, compensation, or consideration c: costing nothing : free
2: not called for by the circumstances : unwarrantedgratuitous assumption>
Amen to both definitions! Counter to most religions of the world, and even the modern mindset, what we do does not ultimately affect how we end up in life! Christ gave us something we could never earn, without expectation of being 'payed' back, and did it even while we were breaking His instructions, sinners, separate from Him and God. What a precious gift he gave to us!
So on this Thanksgiving day, I hope you experience a sense of gratitude towards God for the precious gift He gave!
Thank you God for your Son and his life, death, and coming-back-to-life. Thank you for what you are doing here on earth, and may it continue in our lives. Thank you for what is happening within the Church, I pray that she would continue to love You and love people. Thank you for what is happening within our church, I pray that we can grow in you, and be continually bettering our community. We love you.
-John
P.S. We had prime rib for dinner. It was awesome.
1 comment:
Happy Thanksgiving!
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