1 Thessalonians 5:18
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Learning to be "Thankful" Biblically speaking has been the biggest part of the last two and a half years of my life. Training ground with no training wheels but God! Yes, but God. In the trials, the pain, the disappointment he always came right where I was and gave me the ability to be thankful. Not in the death of my mom but in the promise, I will see her again.
So are you ready? Let's Get It!
If you feel weary, these verses are for you.
If you feel overwhelmed, these verses are for you.
If life is messy, unfinished, unresolved again....
these verses are especially for you.
This Thanksgiving, we’re not chasing a mood.
We’re pursuing a reshaping.
Let the Word do the work.
Let gratitude rise where it wouldn’t rise naturally.
Let this week re-anchor you in who God is…
not just in what life looks like.
A Different Kind of Gratitude**
Most of us were taught a Hallmark version of thanksgiving. Trained early that it is a mood, a moment, or to really put it simple, a polite prayer before the meal.
But Scripture teaches something far deeper:
Thanksgiving is not a feeling.
It’s a formation.
A posture.
A weapon.
A return to God in the middle of everything unfinished.
This week, we’re walking through five verses that modern Christianity often softens—but the early church understood them as survival instructions.
You will notice three movements in each day:
1. Correction
Not condemnation, just the simple truth that calls us back to God’s design.
2. Guidance
A reminder that Scripture doesn’t just inspire us; it forms us.
3. Sacrificial Thanksgiving
The kind that shows up when the healing hasn’t arrived
and the story isn’t resolved.
Your goal this week is simple:
Don’t force gratitude.
Let Scripture grow it.
This was never written for comfortable Christianity. It was written for a people barely holding on. I've been there many times. Often the "Church" Puts on a happy face but never says how.
CULTURAL & HISTORICAL INSIGHT
The Greek here does NOT demand:
-
be happy
-
be cheerful
-
pretend you’re fine
-
thank God for the hard thing
Ancient readers would never have heard it that way.
“Giving thanks in all circumstances” meant:
Remain aligned with God’s character even when life misrepresents His goodness.
Gratitude was not an emotion.
It was an act of defiance and a way of refusing Rome, refusing fear, refusing despair.
Thankfulness was a war posture, not a holiday posture.
HIDDEN TRUTH
(What modern theology misses)
This verse is NOT:
“Smile through pain.”
“Fake it until it feels holy.”
“Silence your suffering.”
It is:
“Do not let suffering turn you into someone God didn’t make you to be.”
Rome could take their peace.
Grief could take their certainty.
Fear could take their comfort.
But thanksgiving would guard their identity.
Thankfulness is not a feeling.
It’s spiritual resistance.
| Key Words | Meaning |
|---|---|
| εὐχαριστεῖτε (eucharisteite) | Not “be grateful.” It means actively acknowledge God’s ongoing grace, Yes, even when you don’t feel the grace yet. |
| ἐν παντί (en panti) | “In everything.” Not for everything. Meaning: in every season, in every pressure, in every unanswered prayer. |
| θέλημα (thelēma) | God’s “will” = God’s desire, God’s design, the path that keeps you aligned with Him. |
The biblical pattern is consistent:
Thankfulness appears when circumstances do not.
APPLICATION — THE REAL CHALLENGE
This verse does NOT mean:
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God wants you to fake joy
-
God expects you to deny your pain
-
God is pleased when you suppress emotions
It means:
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Bring God your real condition
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Refuse to let bitterness reshape you
-
Anchor yourself in something deeper than the moment
-
Stand firm when life tries to deform your faith
Thanksgiving becomes holy when it’s costly.
Easy gratitude proves nothing.
Resilient gratitude reveals everything.
Chrysostom (AD 349–407)
Chrysostom taught that gratitude is a shield of the soul, not a denial of hardship.
He wrote:
“Nothing is so strong as thanksgiving in trials; it makes a man stronger than steel.”
(Homily on Thessalonians)
He emphasized:
-
You thank God because He is faithful,
-
not because the circumstance is good.
He specifically warned Christians not to call the suffering itself good, but to recognize God’s presence inside it.
The Didache (1st Century Church Manual)
The Didache taught early believers: “Give thanks in everything, for this is fitting for those who know the Lord.”
But notice this: He never told them to seek suffering, only to remain faithful when it came.
Thanksgiving was a discipline, not an endorsement of their pain.
Ignatius of Antioch (AD 35–108)
Ignatius wrote to persecuted believers: “Do not be thankful for the wound,
but for the One who heals you through it.”
He drew a sharp boundary:
-
Suffering is not holy.
-
Steadfastness in suffering is.
Clement of Rome (AD 90s)
Clement taught: “In every trial, hold fast to the good; give thanks not because of the fire,but because God walks with you in it.”
He clearly separated the suffering from the gratitude.
A Brief Word on Balance
Before we apply these Thanksgiving passages, we need to hold something in healthy tension.
Scripture calls us to endure suffering,
but it never asks us to romanticize it,
seek it,
or treat pain as a spiritual achievement.
There is an unhealthy pattern in modern and ancient theology where believers:
-
speak of suffering as if it’s automatically holy,
-
pray for others to “learn from the pain,”
-
or tell hurting people that God sent their hardship to shape them.
That is not the posture of Scripture.
The early church didn’t glorify suffering.
They simply refused to let it define them.
They didn’t pray to carry more pain.
They prayed to stay faithful through what life brought.
They didn’t tell each other to stay in harm.
They reminded each other who God remained—even in the storm.
So, as we walk through these verses, read them with this balance:
Suffering is not the goal.
Thanksgiving is the grounding.
Endurance is the fruit.
And God is the one who strengthens—
not the source of the harm.
We do not thank God for pain.
We thank Him for His presence within it.
And we trust Him to lead us out of it when the season is done.
This week is not about glorifying difficulty.
It is about reclaiming thanksgiving as a posture that keeps us steady,
clear-minded,
and rooted in Him.
Church Father Insights — 1 Thessalonians 5:18
These are early church interpretations that correct modern misuses and emphasize endurance, not embracing suffering.
Early Christianity never taught people to:
❌ glorify pain
❌ stay in destructive situations
❌ label suffering itself as God’s will
❌ pretend gratitude means liking the hardship
They taught:
✔ gratitude is a stance, not a feeling
✔ thanksgiving is alignment, not denial
✔ hardship is never holy — but God is present within it
✔ gratitude keeps the soul from collapsing inward
This is the ancient Church’s balance:
We do not thank God for the pain, We thank Him that pain doesn’t get the final word.
Lord,
Teach me thanksgiving that isn’t fragile.
Thankfulness that survives the night.
Gratitude that breathes even when I’m tired.
Pull me out of the places where fear rewrites my story.
Anchor me in Your goodness,
even when I can’t see the ending.
Shape my heart back into who You made me to be—
steadfast, rooted, unshaken,
grateful in the depths,
and faithful in the waiting.
Amen.
A Note About What’s Coming in January
Starting January 1st, I’ll be resetting the way the blog is structured.
For those who simply want a quick devotional, that lighter version will always remain free and easily accessible.
But for those who want to go deeper—
the study materials,
the word studies,
the behind-the-scenes process,
the verse cards,
the long-form teachings,
the personal Scripture songs,
and the spiritual formation content—
I’ve created a protected space through Buy Me A Coffee.
This wasn’t an easy decision.
I never wanted to hide content or make the gospel feel gated.
And I’m not.
Nothing essential to your walk with God will ever require payment.
But as this ministry has grown, so have the expenses:
software, tools, research resources, licensing, file storage, business fees, and the simple cost of time it takes to produce all of this every day.
My family has stood behind me fully.
They give freely, without complaint, even when it means sacrificing things we could have done or bought.
They believe in the calling as much as I do.
Opening this door is not about profit.
It’s about stewardship.
It’s about continuing to create and teach without burning out or burying my family under the weight of it.
While the full benefits won’t begin until January 1st,
I want to make the space available now
for anyone who has felt the tug to support—
for anyone who has wondered how to say,
“This matters. Please keep going.”
Your support is not required.
Your place here is not conditional.
But your partnership would mean the world.
Not because of money—
but because it tells me these words are not falling into the void.
That this work—this ministry—is bearing fruit.
Thank you for reading.
Thank you for being here.
And thank you, truly, for walking this journey with me.
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