Every year, as our family takes time at Thanksgiving to enumerate all the many blessings with which God has blessed us, the things that top all our lists invariably revolve around relationships:
- Our relationship with Jesus.
- Our relationship to one another.
- Our marriage.
- Our children.
- Our family.
- Our friends.
- Our church.
We are so thankful for all the wonderful people God has placed in our lives. But if we just stop at feeling grateful, we miss out on an extra blessing. The blessing of encouragement.
The Bible instructs us:
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)
Of course, there are lots of ways you can encourage others. Expressing gratitude is only one of many. But it’s such an obvious one. And at this time of year, it’s a sensible place to start.
As Robert Brault once observed, “There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude.”
So this Thanksgiving, when you think about how grateful you are for certain people in your life, take it one step further and tell them so!
- Write them a letter
- Send them a text
- Express your feelings face to face
- Tell them what you love and appreciate most about them.
I guarantee they will be blessed by your taking time to do this. And you’ll be blessed, as well.
Then as we move into the Christmas season, we can continue to look for ways to encourage and build others up. A few verses later in this same chapter, we are told to “Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) That’s what the Christmas season is all about.
Jesus came to help us, and He expects us to help others. How can you be a channel of blessing and encouragement to those around you?
This week’s verse can be found in the sixth set of our Scripture Memory Flashcards:
And for extra practice, I’ve made more handwriting printables, as well:
Plus, in case you missed them, here are links to the first five sets of flashcards and practice sheets, too:
- Scripture Memory Cards – Set 1
- Scripture Memory Cards – Set 2
- Scripture Memory Cards – Set 3
- Scripture Memory Cards – Set 4
- Scripture Memory Cards – Set 5
- Memory Verse Copywork – Set 1
- Memory Verse Copywork – Set 2
- Memory Verse Copywork – Set 3
- Memory Verse Copywork – Set 4
- Memory Verse Copywork – Set 5
And I’ve also uploaded a progress chart to help you keep track of which verses your child has already memorized (some of the verses listed are from sets of flashcards that will be published in the future).
May God honor your efforts to hide His Word in your heart!
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