The spiritual person is the one who is grateful
for everything. He is the one who receives everything with thanksgiving, and
who knows that he has nothing except what he has received from God (cf. Jn
3.27).
And from His fullness have we all received,
grace upon grace (Jn 1.16).
In the Old Testament,
thanksgiving was central in the life of God’s people. The temple liturgy
offered sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise, and psalms sang continually of
thanksgiving to God. Sing
praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His Holy Name.
Let
us come into His presence with thanksgiving. Let us enter His gates with
thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name!
It
is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Thy Name, O Most High;
to declare Thy steadfast love in the morning, and Thy faithfulness by night.
O
give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, for His mercy endures forever! (Pss 30.4, 95.2, 92.1,
107.1).
In the New Testament,
thanksgiving is the very essence of the Church’s life. The word eucharist means
thanksgiving, and the very center of the Church’s liturgical worship of God is
when, in remembrance of all His saving acts in Christ, the faithful “lift up
their hearts” and “give thanks unto the Lord.”
The apostolic scriptures and
the lives of the saints abound with thanksgiving to God for all things.
Let
there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting; but
instead let there be thanksgiving . . . always and for everything giving thanks in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father (Eph 5.4, 20).
Rejoice
always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess 5.16–18).
Rejoice
always in the Lord; again I say, Rejoice! Have no anxiety about anything, but
in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be
made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will
keep your hearts and your minds in ChristJesus (Phil 4.4–7).
The spiritual person has
thanksgiving and gratitude in all circumstances, in everything and for
everything. This thanksgiving is rooted in the firm conviction of God’s
merciful providence and care in all things, in the steadfast faith that “God
works in everything for good with those who love Him” or, as the passage may
also be rendered, “everything works together for good with those who love God”
(Rom 8.28).
The spiritual teachers,
especially Saint John Chrysostom (4th c), are very strict in this teaching. The
spiritual man does not thank God only for what he considers to be good. Rather,
he thanks God for everything, even for what appears to be bad, knowing that
God’s tender care is over all, and that the evil in this world—which is always
present and inevitable (cf. Jn 17)—can itself be the vehicle for spiritual
growth and salvation if rightly understood and overcome by the grace of God.
The opposite of gratitude is
bitterness and complaining; it is bemoaning one’s lot in life because of pride
and covetousness. It is caused by the absence of humble trust in the Lord. It
is rooted in an attitude of life which does not allow the person to exclaim
with the righteous Job:
Naked
I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, the Lord
has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1.21).
To thank God in everything and
for everything is the result of faith and faithfulness in God. It is the result
of absolute trust in the Lord who knows best what we need for our salvation and
does all that He can within the evil conditions of the world to bring us to
eternal life, to peace and to joy. It is the product of believing, with Isaiah,
the Word of the Redeemer who says:
For
a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In
overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting
love will I have compassion on you.
For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways and my thoughts than your thoughts . . .
And
you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills
before you shall break forth into singing . . .
Keep
justice and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come . . . (Is 54.7–8, 55.8–9,
56.1).
A person is grateful to the
extent that he trusts in the Lord and has love for God and man.
Source: https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-virtues/gratitude
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