Say It Out Loud

Have you ever looked at someone you really care about and thought, “I love them so much,” but you don’t say it?

Guess what? That person can’t read your mind. You need to verbalize your love.

When you get together with your family today around the Thanksgiving table, tell them you love them. Really, do you have anything to lose if you say that? You’ll be glad that you did. You don’t know with certainly that you’ll be here next Thanksgiving. And you don’t know whether they will be here next Thanksgiving.

In the same way, we need to verbalize our love for God. The Bible tells us, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV).

It doesn’t say, “In some things give thanks,” or “When you’re in the mood, give thanks,” or “When circumstances are perfect, give thanks.”

No, the Bible says, “In everything give thanks” (emphasis added).

Sometimes it’s a sacrifice to praise God and give Him thanks. Sometimes we’re not in the mood. But we’re to do it anyway, because God is worthy of our praise. Hebrews 13:15 says, “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” (NKJV).

That phrase “the fruit of our lips” means that we verbalize our praise. And we worship even if we don’t feel like it. We worship when we are hurting. We worship because God is deserving of our praise.

The Bible repeatedly urges us to worship, no matter what. There are no exceptions. There are no excuses. Nothing is beyond these parameters. In everything give thanks.

It’s nice that we have a day called Thanksgiving, and we will give thanks today. But we should keep giving thanks all the time because the Lord is good.