¹³For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

Gratitude was a hallmark of the apostle Paul, going hand in hand with an appreciation of the grace of God. As noted before, grace adorns all of his salutations; so does thanksgiving in almost all of his letters. One exception is found in his rebuke of the Galatian churches that had fallen to the influence of false teachers who required adherence to the Jewish law to be saved. The only other exception was Paul’s letter to Titus, where we can easily assume he was thankful for the one whom he called “my true child in a common faith.”

We take it that gratitude is important in the Christian life, but why? Is this just one of the soft, non-essential qualities of a pleasant spiritual life, less essential than defending right doctrine? Paul’s sheer repetition would contradict such a view. Thanksgiving was a natural result from the right doctrine of grace. Put another way, any teaching that does not include a high dosage of reason why we should be thankful is a teaching that is not based on the grace of God.

Yet, why the emphasis in many churches on doctrine without any sense of grace, other than as a sterile theological concept? It is because of a complete misunderstanding of the doctrine of grace. In its essential form, grace means that anything God does for us, in us, or through us, He does because He has fully chosen to do so because of who He is—not because we are deserving or in some way worthy. The grace in Paul’s life was not a reward for his faithfulness, his doctrinal fidelity, or his personal sacrifice. Absolutely not! All those things, in his mind, were a result of God’s grace, not the cause of it. He knew he was unworthy because he saw himself as the foremost of all sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). We would do well to think the same of ourselves. When we do, we will be overwhelmed like Paul that God wanted to not only saved us but also uses us. It does not get any better than that!

Some people wallow in their failure, believing that somehow God’s grace is not enough for them, that they need to straighten out their lives before they can serve God. That betrays a disbelief in God; it reveals a false doctrine, that His grace is not sufficient. They arrogantly think they are the exception to God’s grace. But for those who do understand God’s grace and accept their own unworthiness, the outward result is a constant thankfulness for what God is doing through them—just like the apostle Paul who was constantly thankful.

Lord, ever remind me of Your grace, and I will ever be thankful to You.