From the Deacon's Desk

Each day, I reflect upon a word or a phrase inspired by the readings of the day. I encourage you to do the same and perhaps incorporate that word or phrase into your daily prayer.

“I give thanks to my God always …” (1 Corinthians 1:1-9)

THANKS TO MY GOD: When we hear “give thanks to my God always,” it makes me wonder, does God need to be thanked?

You may only think of giving thanks in terms of verbal gratitude or time spent in prayer. It is important to understand that we say thank you to God in many ways. We do so by living lives that glorify Him. We express gratitude when we show love and support for others, when we are selfless in our actions, when we carry a positive attitude into every situation, as well as when we spend time in prayer. We say thank you by both word and deed.

God isn’t sitting in Heaven counting how many times we say thank you. That would be self-serving. We don’t express our gratitude for God’s sake, we do so for our sake – it is a sign of humility. Being grateful keeps us in tune with how blessed we are. It serves as a reminder that God has been good to us. It nurtures in us a generous spirit. And most importantly, it keeps us grounded in the fact that we are nothing without Him. Nothing we have accomplished has been done on our own and nothing we have has been earned by us alone.

No, God does not need to be thanked, but we need to thank God.