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Why Is Gratitude Not a Fruit of the Spirit?

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Psalm 136 (NIV)


Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords:
His love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders,
His love endures forever.
who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever.
who spread out the earth upon the waters,
His love endures forever.
who made the great lights—
His love endures forever.
the sun to govern the day,
His love endures forever.
the moon and stars to govern the night;
His love endures forever.
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel out from among them
His love endures forever.
with a mighty hand and outstretched arm;
His love endures forever.
to him who divided the Red Sea[a] asunder
His love endures forever.
and brought Israel through the midst of it,
His love endures forever.
but swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea;
His love endures forever.
to him who led his people through the wilderness;
His love endures forever.
to him who struck down great kings,
His love endures forever.
and killed mighty kings—
His love endures forever.
Sihon king of the Amorites
His love endures forever.
and Og king of Bashan—
His love endures forever.
and gave their land as an inheritance,
His love endures forever.
an inheritance to his servant Israel.
His love endures forever.
He remembered us in our low estate
His love endures forever.
and freed us from our enemies.
His love endures forever.
He gives food to every creature.
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.

CONSIDER THIS

I have always wondered why gratitude was not included in the list of the fruit of the Spirit.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

Here’s my best guess. I think it’s because gratitude is the response to all of it. The fruit of the Spirit is love, which is characterized by joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. And all of this can be captured by a single word.

Generosity.

The love of God (agape) is the perfect embodiment of a comprehensive generosity made known through joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. In other words, if love is not generous then it is not love. And generosity always inspires gratitude. And yes, gratitude always inspires more generosity. Hence the constancy of the never ending refrain:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

I want to say thank you to you all today. Thank you for the incredible generosity so many of you have shown to this work of sowing for a great awakening. Hundreds of you stepped up this time last year and sponsored a day of the Wake-Up Call. Thousands of you have written me deeply encouraging notes of gratitude. Many more have shared this work with others as acts of love for them and encouragement to their faith. In other words, I would not be doing what I am doing if you were not doing what you are doing. Thank you dear friends of Jesus. I do love you so.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
His love endures forever.

Together we are the prophets of the long road, and the road is long. Several times across the years I have asked my dad his favorite verse of Scripture. Though he can never remember what he has told me before, he always lands on the same text:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:9–10)

We are doing this good friends. And I know so many of us (present company included) are tired and can grow weary. Therefore let us heed another of our favorite texts as we “encourage one another daily as long as it is called today.” (Hebrews 3:13)

This series has brought me into a profound remembrance of my family and upbringing on a small farm in the south of Arkansas. (Funny how everyone says “in the south of France; and no one says in the south of Arkansas). I want to say thank you to Meemaw and Peepaw, Mom and Dad, Uncle Martin and Aunt Linda, Cousin Lee—the original “Farm Team,” my whole family and all my oldest friends. I want to say thank you to the Seedbed Farm Team and to Asbury Seminary for entrusting us to sow such a seed as we have over these past ten years of sowing for a great awakening.

In the end, here’s why I’d say gratitude is not a fruit of the Spirit—because gratitude is the very seed of the kingdom. It’s why I close with the two most important words in any language:

Thank you.

THE PRAYER

Father Farmer God, make of my life a farmer’s market. Today we look past the fruit and on to the seeds. Let my life be an extravagant sowing of the seeds of gratitude that come from the fruit of the Spirit—which is love. Indeed, let my life become the seed that goes into the ground, to arise as a self-forgetful flourishing of the very kingdom of Jesus, on earth as it is in heaven. Indeed, I give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.

THE QUESTION

How about it? Gratitude as the seeds of the fruit of the Spirit? What do you make of that? How are you expressing your gratitude today? Are you seeing the endless loop of flourishing from generosity to gratitude to generosity to gratitude to generosity to . . .

THE HYMN (We sing on the Recording)

Today we will sing the great Thanksgiving hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God,” on page #84 of our newly released Seedbed hymnal Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. 

For the Awakening,

J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

Comments and Discussion

3 Responses

  1. We are able to love God with our whole hearts and love others as ourselves because He first loved us. Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,….

  2. Thank you, JD, for listening to Jesus and openly and humbly sharing what He tells you. The words that you pass on from Him touch my heart every time I read them. Thank you for connecting me to many Spirit-led people in the Seedbed community.

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