Attitude of Gratitude

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE

Col 3:15-17

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

NIV

There seems to be some correlation between the peace of Christ and having a thankful spirit. We notice three admonishments to be thankful, do things with gratitude in our hearts and giving thanks to God. First, we have to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. This is not the Shalom peace, but a state of tranquility type peace. This would be the opposite of having a heart filled with anxiety, worry, doubt, and fear. The Greek word translated peace carries a meaning distinct to believers, or the church. It is defined as the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot whatsoever sort that be. Let that rule in our hearts since we were called to that tranquil state. Therefore, why would we not be thankful to God? We also have to be thankful because we have, that is if we let the word of Christ dwell in us richly. However, if we do let the word of God dwell in us richly we would be teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom. It is, therefore, possible to keep the word of Christ from dwelling richly in us. If we are told to do this, it might be possible we are not allowing his word to dwell richly within us. If we allow the things of this world to choke out the word of Christ, we would not be living either peacefully or thankfully. Then we would be living more with anxiety and discontentment. Allowing his peace to rule in our hearts brings us so much more, a life far richer than we could ever achieve from this world. There is also another catch herein having the peace of Christ rule in our hearts and having the word of Christ dwell richly in us as we teach and admonish each other with all wisdom. That is we are singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in our hearts to God. That could look a lot like church, or at least the time we call worship. However, sometimes it appears there is little joy, happiness, or peace and thankfulness shining through as we sing various words on the screen. Sometimes it appears we are just mouthing the words, but they are not down in our heart. Maybe worship is more than just that time of mouthing words without any expression at all. Maybe worship should be coming from our hearts where the word of Christ so richly dwells. Maybe we should be living every aspect of our lives in this attitude of gratitude and then we would be constantly singing within, always being in the worship of our Lord. In everything we do and say we would be doing and saying in the name of the Lord and always be giving God thanks. Some have said we can thank God in all situations, but not so much for all situations. That theory or position does not seem to hold to the truth of the scripture. Paul made it clear when he said he had learned to be content in whatever the circumstance. It may be true that life, itself, can bring us various circumstances, and it also may be true some of our circumstances may be brought upon us by our own choices. However, we can also see that God, being sovereign and fully in charge of our lives and spiritual welfare, brings circumstances into our lives for his divine purpose. That fact still remains, we need to live with an attitude of gratitude as the peace of Christ rules in our hearts.