It’s easy to look at someone else’s successful battle, after the fact, and take for granted the outcome.

The single person who once upon a time struggled with loneliness and for patience, but is now married and has a house full of kids; the parent or grandparent who agonized in daily prayer for years for the salvation of their wayward child, but now he or she is a joyful and active member of the church; the miserable employee who dreaded going into work each day because of the depth of his unfulfillment, but who now is happily employed at his dream job.

What was it like, though, at the time of the challenge when the outcome was still unknown, uncertain? It was for them just like it is for us right now, in the midst of the trial!

David trusted the invisible God to defeat his very visible enemy — and you should too!

What mindset invariably leads to serving others? Humility. When we see ourselves as undeserving of the least of God’s goodness, then we esteem others better than ourselves. When our own faults are clearly before our eyes, we have no room left for criticizing others.

And when we, in genuine and personal humility, esteem others as we ought, we will cease to look for ways to please ourselves and begin to look for ways to help others. Rather than using others to better ourselves, we will use ourselves to better others. 

What have your goals and thoughts been about this day? Are you planning the hours in such a way as to better your own situation or as to better the situation of others around you? Is your great concern the fulfillment of personal ambitions or is your ambition to lose yourself in the service and benefiting of God’s people around you?

How we plan our day, how we use our time, how we spend our money — these are all barometers of true humility. May your self-esteem be transformed today into service for others. May you find the great joy and satisfaction that only and paradoxically comes from giving up your own pleasure for the sake of others.

When a man and woman marry, the two individuals then become one. This marvel of marriage implies both a new and tremendous liberty for them both and a vital and voluntary constraint upon them both. 

On one hand, a tremendous liberty: two individuals working together in unity are able to accomplish and enjoy far more together than they ever could alone. Every good marriage is made up of more than just the sum of its two simple parts. Marriage multiplies the pleasures, the accomplishments, and the opportunities of life.

On the other hand, their new oneness implies restrictions — they are no longer free to make their own decisions or set their own goals as individuals, without consideration for each other. Go to any three-legged race and you will quickly see the awkwardness and bondage of two individuals, who are joined together, still trying to make their own way and rely on their own strength. 

Although in our Western culture the decision to marry is made by the two individuals, once they commit themselves to the God-invented institution of marriage it is in effect God who has joined them together. They are therefore responsible to God for their commitment to each other.

What God has joined together in the holy bonds of matrimony is not to be lightly or selfishly or wrongly separated by any mere mortal. Therefore, strive to make yourselves, and those loved ones of yours who are married, more unified for the glory of God. Never seek to divide what God has glued together.

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).

Here is a command to thanksgiving.

Sin is disobeying God, and so when we fail to consistently nurture gratitude in our hearts to God we are sinning.

I suppose most Christians would immediately, although perhaps reluctantly, admit the truth of this statement. However, for most of us “ingratitude” would not quickly come to mind if we were to list the sins we think of as particularly heinous. Although we might not express it this way, we might even consider it one of the more excusable, acceptable, even understandable sins. After all, life is hard and being thankful all the time is not easy.

However, we perhaps begin to see the seriousness of the issue when we notice how the psalmist ties together the act of thanking God (“be thankful unto him”) with the act of worshiping God (“bless his name”) — notice also the parallel use of “thanksgiving” with “praise” in verse 4.

Simply put, thanksgiving is worship. And the fact is, God is concerned for his glory, that his benevolence and blessings reverberate back to him in the grateful praise of his creation.

It Is the Will of God

Paul writes, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Our immediate response may be, “In everything? I can understand giving thanks for family, and jobs, and air conditioning and modern medicine; but how can I give thanks when I lose loved ones, get laid off, or become ill?” Yet, the Spirit’s command is unavoidable.

And Paul immediately hits upon the greatest and best grounds for gratitude — the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

You see, this command is only part of the enormous picture of God’s will in Christ Jesus concerning you.

He also sent his Son as substitute for you, and continues to work—every moment of every day, in every event of life—in you and for you.

It is the purpose of God for you to give thanks in everything, then, because it is the purpose of God to call and save and sanctify and bless you throughout your life. Or, in the words of the psalmist, it is always appropriate to bless and worship the God who has blessed us so abundantly with his goodness and mercy: “for [because] the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting.”

Consider 2 Corinthians 4:15: “All things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.”

Every person, every situation, everything is allowed through the wise and omnipotent hand of God for your sakes, in Jesus Christ; and all this is so that his grace may redound to his glory.

The good of those who love God is not God’s only motivation. It is the great and ultimate purpose of God that his abundant and conquering grace should redound to his own glory. It is only right that it would be so, like an author or a painter or a sculptor being credited for his masterpieces.

How does abundant grace resonate to his glory? Through the thanksgiving of many.

When we grab from the gracious hand of God and run away thoughtlessly to enjoy his benefits, his abundant grace does not receive the glory it deserves.

Gratitude Magnifies God

Why is God so concerned about thanksgiving? In addition to being the appropriate expression of his blessed creatures back to him, gratitude magnifies God: “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving” (Psalm 69:30).

At first glance, this wording may seem strange. How do we magnify the omniscient, omnipresent, almighty God?

Put another way, how can anyone make an everywhere-present God bigger?

But consider what we do when we use a magnifying glass in order to read small print, or perform detailed work, or inspect any item more closely. Does the magnifying glass actually make the object larger? No, but it does increase our own ability to perceive and appreciate the thing being considered.

Similarly, the psalmist recognizes that praising God and giving him gratitude will “grow” his view of God, not only in his own sight but also in the sight of others — just as “the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified” when the people saw the difference between the spiritual power of Paul through Christ and the spiritual impotence of the seven sons of Sceva acting on their own (Acts 19:17).

We magnify or diminish our God and Savior Jesus Christ in front of others—friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers, or strangers—by our response to the blessings we receive from his gracious hand.

Forget Not All His Benefits

It is remarkable to see the emphasis placed on thanksgiving in both the Old and New Testaments. When Daniel prays for deliverance by divine revelation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, his request is not mentioned in detail — but his lengthy prayer of thanksgiving is recorded word-for-word! (Daniel 2:19-23). Likewise, Hannah’s prayer for a child is given in one verse (1 Samuel 1:11), whereas her expression of gratitude stretches over ten verses of the divine narrative (2:1-10). That’s 10-to-1 “coverage” by the Holy Spirit!

I wonder, how seriously do we take the psalmist’s determination to “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits”? (103:2).

He was resolved that not a single benefit of God’s merciful provision should come to him without his carefully marking it as yet another unmerited favor.

This was not out of some drab sense of duty, but rather out of heart overflowing with a desire to “bless the Lord.”

So, while it is true that thanksgiving is a command (Psalm 100:4), it is also true that it is a privilege (Hebrews 13:15). And, while we do give thanks because we are blessed (Psalm 103:2; 147:7-8), we are also blessed because we give thanks (Psalm 50:14). Thus, giving thanks is for our own good (Philippians 4:6) and at the same time for God’s glory (2 Corinthians 4:15). Thanksgiving is for the child of God now (Colossians 4:2), and his joyful pursuit throughout eternity (Revelation 7:12).

In short, God has built his universe in such a way that everything that truly benefits his people will also glorify his name — and remembering to consistently, joyfully give thanks to him by Jesus Christ is our opportunity to consciously, purposefully do both!

Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

What criteria do you use in order to decide for or against a particular action, ambition, or way of life? Do you weigh the financial benefit, the career advancement, or perhaps the physical pleasure that any given opportunity may afford?

Paul tells us, first, to walk as children of light. In other words, our lives ought to be radically, fundamentally, unmistakably different than those who do not claim Christ as their Lord and Savior. Light is glaringly different than darkness. 

We should not be asking the same questions that any one in the world would ask in our same situation. We should not be making decisions that reflect the priorities and self-seeking ways of sinful, unsaved individuals. We should not have the same goals as those who don’t have an eternal perspective.

In short, Paul says, we should be testing everything to see, not whether it is pleasing to our palate or to the world, but what is acceptable to the Lord. Is this thing in agreement with his Word? Will this draw me closer to Christ? Does this further the cause of Christ in the world, through me? 

Thankfully, God has not left us in the dark regarding how to walk as children of light. We do not have to guess about what is pleasing to Christ. He has given us all we need to know about his desires and pleasures by communicating them to us in his Word.

Therefore, take his Word, discover what is acceptable to the Lord, and walk in it as a child of light.

In our day the call is to esteem yourself, believe in yourself, promote yourself and reward yourself. But God’s Word calls us to humility.

God hates pride and has always resisted the proud. He brought devastation to the land of Egypt after Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him?’ He put king Nebuchadnezzar down on his all-fours to eat grass like an animal after he boasted of his accomplishments. And Herod was eaten by worms when he failed to give glory to God. 

As you search your own heart to see if there is pride that needs to be rooted out, consider that humility is an acknowledgement of unworthiness. Jacob declared that he was unworthy of the least of God’s mercies. The publican cried out, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”

Humility is submission to God. You may not understand some of the providences unfolding in your life, but you bow in submission and know God is working his will and accomplishing his purposes. It means believing what God says, accepting what is in his Word and making no attempt to explain it away. 

Humility recognizes the need for grace. The humble have a great sense of their own weakness and know they must come to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help in time of need. They know they need grace to pray, grace to overcome the world, and grace to minister to others.

How is it with you? Are you clothed with humility?

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

This is both sobering and encouraging, isn’t it?

On one hand, it means even the darkest, dirtiest sins that you struggle with are common to humanity — how messed up is that?! Sin is worse than we can imagine. It’s like a nuclear meltdown or explosion: it affects a huge radius of people, for generations to come.

Yet on the other hand, this verse strengthens us with the knowledge that, as dangerous and universal as sin is, others have successfully overcome it and you can to! Although David gave into the temptation to adultery, Joseph ran from it and escaped it. Although Peter denied his Lord, he would later preach and be imprisoned and be martyred for the sake of Christ.

God has a detailed and current knowledge and control over each event, each person, each challenge that touches your life — and he is faithful to lead us to victory over every trial or temptation as we trust in his goodness, sufficiency, and superiority in Jesus Christ!

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How easily, in the muck and clamor and distractions of life, we seem to forget the Lord’s many blessings to us. If we pray at all, then our prayers are largely taken up with requests for family and friends and health and blessing. But how often do we pause to bless the Lord, to praise him for the many benefits he has given to us already? 

Thousands of people struggle daily with discouragement and frustration, or at least with discontentment, even though they are surrounded by prosperity and property. Why is this? Why does there seem to be so little contentment in the midst of such enormous wealth? Perhaps it is because we have neglected to develop grateful hearts.

But we are here encouraged to develop the habit of gratefulness — forget not all his benefits. Not a single blessing of God should be taken for granted. Not a single benefit should come to us without our carefully marking it as yet another unmerited favor from our heavenly Father. 

It is also interesting that this admonition is an entirely inward one. The psalmist is actually speaking to himself, addressing his own soul. He is keeping a close check on his spirit and correcting trends that he sees there toward ingratitude, complaining, or dissatisfaction.

We ought, also, to stir ourselves up to habitual, genuine, God-centered gratitude; which will then lead us to habitual, genuine, God-centered praise.

We first see here a significant need. Jesus speaks to those who are thirsty, and we look at several scriptures which promise blessings to those who thirst — those who come to recognize their great need.

We then see an adequate solution. Here is a warm word of welcome, “Let him come unto me, and drink.” Come to me — not to the law, not to religious rites, but come to me — come to Jesus Christ.

And then we see an abundant blessing. Not only will that soul who comes to Jesus and drinks of the living water be refreshed and satisfied, but also rivers of water will flow from their lives.

Are you thirsty? Jesus says, “Come.”

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What soft comfort and what hard conviction are contained in this one admonition! First, we are told that God has, for Christ’s sake, forgiven you (if you are among “the faithful in Christ Jesus” to whom Paul was writing). 

Not only has he forgiven you, but he has done so with kindness and with tenderness of heart. This is no begrudging, reluctant forgiveness. God’s heart is tender toward us. His love toward us is genuine and his forgiveness is complete.

However, the more we marvel at the undeserved and kindly love of God for us, the more we convict ourselves by the standard that is here set before us. We are to be kind, and tenderhearted, and forgiving toward one another in the same way that God was kind, and tenderhearted, and forgiving toward us. 

How did God forgive you? Did he wait until you deserved his forgiveness? Did he make you grovel, or earn, or beg for it? Does he bring your past sins up over and over again in order to shame you? Did he wait for you to pursue him, or did he pursue you in order to bring about healing and reconciliation in your relationship with him?

The overwhelming teaching of Scripture—and especially the first half of this book Ephesians—is that God sought us out and forgave us in Christ without any conditions, or qualifications being met by us. We, therefore, ought to be just as kind, just as tender, just as forgiving toward each other.