There is an old saying that “He who does not see the gift, does not see the giver,” and another tells us that “Yesterday’s gift is already twice forgotten.” We may express appreciation when we receive a gift, but it’s a human proclivity to forget it after a little while; and even important gifts become parts of our everyday lives that we don’t think about any more. We even say something is a “given” if it is accepted and something we no longer need to focus on.
But when the apostle Paul wrote that we should be “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 ESV), the “always” and “for everything” would certainly seem to include past gifts that we still enjoy rather than only those new ones of which we might be more aware. But human forgetfulness still stops us doing this as much as we should. So how do we make our appreciation stick? There are four things that help:
Give thanks for it. That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 5:20. We need to offer thanks to the One from whom all gifts ultimately come (James 1:17) – no matter who delivers them. And occasionally we need to remind ourselves of the most basic gifts of all. The average human heart beats around 100,000 times a day, 35 million times a year, but how many of those mega-micro-gifts have we ever given thanks for? The more we see small gifts, the more we see large ones in true perspective.
Write it down. It may be hard to write down every gift we receive, but complete recording is not the point. The more we think to write down our gifts, the more we become aware of them. Writing down the things for which you are truly thankful at the end of each week in a “gratitude list” gives you a way of keeping the memory and appreciation of them alive.
Tell someone about it. This is easy enough if we have mates, family members or close friends with whom we can talk openly. Naturally, our significant people don’t need to know that we are thankful that we didn’t burn the toast again this morning, but telling others about serious blessings is the opposite of confession – it tells others how good God is and helps them realize the gifts they have.
Share it with someone. By “share” I mean literally share the gift or part of it where this is appropriate. We may not be able to share some of the most basic gifts in life, but then again, sometimes we can. We can share many aspects of our physical blessings by giving part of what we earn, loaning items to people who need them, giving of our time and by sharing in many other ways. If you read through your “gratitude list” every so often, you may find a number of things that are appropriate to share. Whatever it may be, when we share a gift we focus on it and often appreciate it more ourselves.
The more of these basic techniques we employ, the more we appreciate what we have – and the more the appreciation sticks with us. And there is another aspect to this. The more appreciative we become, the more we live our “attitude of gratitude.” * As John F. Kennedy wrote: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
* For more information on biblical gratitude, download our free e-book Living Thanks : A Guide to Growing and Showing Gratitude – also available as an audio book and in other formats – on this website and also here.
Most Christians know the story of the teacher of the law who asked Jesus, “Who is my Neighbor?” This was the question that prompted Jesus to reply with the Parable of the Good Samaritan – showing that even our enemies are neighbors when it comes to the law of God.
But what if the teacher had asked the question in a slightly different way, saying, “Who is my Friend?” Could the answer to that question also impact our understanding of the Way of Christianity? We don’t have any indication in the New Testament of that question being asked of Jesus, but we do have Jesus’ answer to it, nevertheless.
In his Gospel, Matthew tells the story of Jesus’ betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas Iscariot, the disciple turned traitor, had led a group of soldiers and other armed men to where he knew Christ would be in order to betray him for a cash reward. As Judas approached Jesus in the dark of night and greeted him with a kiss in order to identify him to those who were to arrest him, Matthew records Jesus’ surprising words: “‘Do what you came for, friend.’ Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him” (Matthew 26:50).
Think about this. Jesus was not one to soften the truth. He was the one who called the Pharisees “whitened sepulchers” and a “brood of vipers” – to their faces. But at the very moment of his betrayal , Jesus did not call Judas all the things we probably would have done. He did not call Judas “Traitor!” “Enemy!” “Back-Stabber!” – he did not even call him “False Friend!” Amazingly, he just called him “Friend.”
Now if we want to get technical, the word the Bible uses to record what Jesus called Judas was not philos, the Greek word usually translated “friend” and meaning “dear” in the sense of a close friend. It uses the word hetairos meaning “friend” in the sense of a comrade, one who is a friend without necessarily having any affectionate relationship. But he did call Judas by a word that means “friend” in the general sense (Matthew also uses the word in this sense in Matthew 20:13 and Matthew 22:12).
How do we apply his example? The Old Testament gives us some clues. Hebrew has a word, merea, which is very similar in meaning to the Greek hetairos – it also means friend in the sense of companion or comrade and it is found in Job’s words: “He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14). It is the same word that is used to tell us that after Job prayed for his “friends” (the individuals who had been haranguing him), God forgave them (Job 42:10).
So if righteous Job prayed for the “friends” who mistreated him, and Christ could even call Judas “friend” as he betrayed him, can we learn a lesson from this? When we pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44), do we pray grudgingly, with reservations, or do we pray for them as we would for a friend?
Many people think of the “Lord’s Prayer” – the guide to prayer given by Jesus to his disciples (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4) – as something to be recited. In this view, simply saying the words exactly as they are recorded in the scriptures constitutes what Jesus had in mind for the prayers of his followers.
However, this understanding of the “prayer” does not fit with the biblical evidence we have. If the Lord’s Prayer constitutes the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, why do we not find it repeated at any other point in the New Testament – and why are all the recorded prayers given by his disciples after this point not the Lord’s Prayer?
The answer is doubtless that what we call the Lord’s Prayer was really an outline guide to the key subjects to be covered regularly in prayer. Once we realize this probability, we are able to understand many things about the prayer outline that we might otherwise miss.
A key aspect in understanding the thrust and intent of the Lord’s Prayer is that not only does it record things to be said, but also – directly or indirectly – it records things we are to do. When we look at the seven petitions found within the prayer outline, we see that each one asks for God’s intervention or action in a sphere in which we are also expected to act.
This is most clearly seen in the petition “forgive us our debts/sins” which specifically states “as we forgive our debtors/them that sin against us” (Matthew 6:12). We ask God’s forgiveness, understanding that it is linked to and to some degree dependent upon what we do. Although this request is the only one that directly includes a statement of our responsibility within the prayer itself, the remaining petitions can be seen to imply responsibilities in the way that Jesus refers to them elsewhere in the Sermon on the Mount or in his other teachings.
This means that the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer are all balanced with responsibilities that can be paired like this:
“Hallowed be your name” – we must not dishonor God’s name in our speech or lives. “Your kingdom come” – we must work for the establishment of the kingdom in our own lives and those of others. “Your will be done” – we must strive to fulfill God’s will in all aspects of our lives. “Give us this day our daily bread” – we must work for our sustenance. “Forgive us our debts” – we must forgive others if we are to be forgiven. “Lead us not into temptation” – we must actively avoid tempting situations. “Deliver us from evil” – we must do what we can to avoid or overcome evil.
Balancing what we ask God to perform and what we ourselves do is not the same as attempting to bolster our faith with works. Rather, it is simply fulfilling the clear biblical injunctions that can be found on all these subjects. “Give us our daily bread,” for example, is balanced not only by the general teachings of Jesus (John 9:4, etc.), but also by the apostle Paul’s explicit statement that “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Similarly, all the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer may be balanced with Christian teachings – positively or negatively expressed – regarding what we are to do or not do to fulfill our responsibility in each area.
The principle is simple enough and is somewhat humorously summed up in the old saying that “we cannot sow our wild oats, then pray for a crop failure.” Our lives must match our prayers in each specific application.
This view of the Lord’s Prayer actually develops our trust in God far more than simply reciting its petitions and then “going our own way.” Understanding that we play a role in the fulfillment of each petition helps us not only to pray for God’s action in the world, but also to pray for the specific help we need in fulfilling our own part. Ultimately, the Lord’s Prayer is not a simple list of requests that we can recite, then forget – it is a guide to asking God to fulfill his will in the area of every petition and to help us to fulfill our own part in what God intends.
The Old Testament book of Job is not only a mysterious and fascinating one, it is also perhaps the most important book in the Bible when it comes to understanding suffering. Why is there suffering in this world? Why does God allow even seemingly righteous people to suffer? What can we do to help ourselves or others who are suffering? Our new book Job: Answering the Question of Suffering gives a short, but in-depth, look at this biblical book – and the answers Job provides to some of life’s most difficult and important questions. You can download a free copy of this greatly encouraging book to read on any smart phone, e-book reader, tablet, or computer, here.
“work out your salvation with fear and trembling”(Philippians 2:12).
This short sentence from Paul’s letter to the Philippian church has often been misused by those who have sought to teach that we are responsible for saving ourselves through our own works. Sometimes it is also used by those claiming the Bible contradicts itself – as evidence of Paul contradicting his clear teaching in other places that we are saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9; etc).
Because of these wrong views, some Bible versions have changed the translation of the verse to try to avoid such misunderstandings. For example, the New Living Translation has “Work hard to show the results of your salvation” which might be close to Paul’s intent, but is not what the verse actually says.
But the answer to the problem is simple enough when we look at the verse in context. Paul was telling the Philippians that now he is no longer with them, they must take on the responsibility of their own spiritual lives. This is why he wrote, directly before the words in question: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (verse 12, emphasis added), or, as the ESV translates the verse: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (emphasis added).
Paul is certainly not intending his readers to think they somehow save themselves. In fact, in the very next verse he says “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (verse 13).
Paul’s use of the phrase “your own salvation” is strongly emphatic. He was urging the Philippians to learn to walk by themselves without his support – instead of leaning on his ongoing presence and personal guidance. Paul was simply urging them to develop spiritual maturity to enable them to walk by themselves.
There is also, of course, an aspect of these words in which we do “work out our salvation” – not the actual saving of ourselves from sin and death, but the application of our wills to choose the salvation that is offered to us. As Jesus himself said, we must strive to enter in at the narrow gate (Luke 13:24) and in this sense we do “work” to choose to repent and turn from sin while accepting Christ as our savior – even though it is God who leads us to that point (Romans 2:4).
In saying “work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” Paul was simply urging the Philippians to understand that they should continue to grow even without his presence and direct help, and that they needed to take responsibility for choosing to do what was necessary for spiritual growth.
Recent Comments