Why Is It Important To Give Thanks At Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a time to show gratitude and give thanks for one’s blessings. Along with holding feasts to celebrate a harvest, it is a time to show appreciation and kindness.

A brief history of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. It originated as a day of thanksgiving and harvest festival with the theme of the holiday revolving around giving thanks. 

A centerpiece of Thanksgiving celebrations is a Thanksgiving dinner. This dinner traditionally includes dishes such as turkey, stuffing, green beans, mashed or sweet potatoes, corn, squash, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.

The event that Americans commonly call the “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October 1621. The Pilgrims held a harvest feast after a successful growing season. This feast lasted three days. In 1841, editor Alexander Young in a footnote was the first person to identify the 1621 feast as the first Thanksgiving.

President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”. Lincoln declared it to be the last Thursday in November. While this date was changed at different periods based on the sitting President, from 1942 onwards, Thanksgiving by an act of Congress received a permanent observation date (the fourth Thursday in November).

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

• Are you thankful that you are alive?
• Are you thankful that you made it through the pandemic?
• Are you thankful that you have a job?
• Are you thankful for your parents/kids/spouse?
• Are you thankful for family?
• Are you thankful that you have somewhere to call home?
• Are you thankful for every meal that you eat?

Why is it important to give thanks at Thanksgiving?

We should give thanks because of a desire to show God gratitude for the many gifts that he has given us.

While we have been blessed in our daily lives with numerous things including a harvest of food, shelter, and clothing, Jesus gave us the greatest gift of all which is salvation through his sacrifice of death. He himself by example showed us how to give thanks such as when he gave thanks to his father in Mark chapter 11 vs 23.

God’s unconditional love is everlasting and for such a gift, our gratitude should never cease.  

While we give thanks for many things during the Thanksgiving season, let us always remember to show gratitude to the Savior who sustains us by his grace and his mercy.

How can you show gratitude by paying it forward?

When we have been blessed, we should always strive to pay it forward so that someone else can experience the same feeling. It does not matter how much we have, paying something forward requires even just a small act of kindness.

For example, if you have been fortunate enough to receive or purchase a vehicle of your own, a simple act of kindness can be giving your neighbor who walks 10 blocks to work every day, a ride. Or, if you are a person who has been fortunate enough to have acquired an abundance of clothing items and accessories over time, try clearing out your closet and gathering a package of clothing to donate to a local shelter.

Moreover, when you want to pay kindness forward, you don’t always have to wait until you no longer need something to want to give it away. A true act of kindness is giving a portion of something that you have been blessed with.

Whatever you are thankful for this season, give thanks to God and endeavor to pay your gratitude forward.

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