20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
20 giving thanks
The third result of being filled with the Spirit is giving God thanks for everything constantly. Thanksgiving is to possess a sense of gratitude. We are not worthy of what God gives us, and that makes our gratitude all the more unequivocal.
always
The word “always” is a problem to us in a practical sense. “Well, I give thanks at meals.” No, the word is “always.” Our gratitude should take place at all times. We are not to do this once and forget it. As we receive each mercy, we are to give thanks for it.
Ps 34: 1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
He 13: 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
for all things
“All things” includes both bane and blessing, adversity and benefit, for the small and the big (1 Th 5:18). We give thanks for the miserable things, the things we cannot understand, as well as the good. In other words, we surrender to the will of God no matter how it hurts. Only a Spirit-filled person can do this.
1 Sa 3: 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him.”
2 Sa 15: 26 But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.”
1 Th 5: 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
to God the Father
God the Father is the object of our thanks.
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The “name” of our Lord represents all that He is. His name is both the foundation and the means whereby we give thanks to God (Jn 14:13-14, 16-17). This is how we are to give thanks. We give thanks by everything that represents who and what Jesus is and did. Without Christ there is no genuine thanksgiving. Christ ever intercedes for us; therefore, we can give thanks. It was He who earned anything we have.
PRINCIPLE:
Gratitude is recognition of what God has done for us in Christ without our merit.
APPLICATION:
God’s design is that we thank Him when things go well and when things go wrong. If our thanks only revolves around what goes well, then there is something off base with our appreciation of the totality of what God has done for us. We think of only the bad that happens to us and forget the good.
The capacity to give thanks is a high order of spirituality. Job in the Old Testament gave thanks to God when things went terribly for him (Job 1:21). The goal of thanks is to glorify God (2 Co 4:15; 9:12,15).
A Spirit-filled person neither complains nor is sour in his spirit. He is thankful and grateful for what God provides. We are not simply grateful for some things but, when Spirit filled, we are grateful for all things.
