The Way Of Gratitude

We hear so often in the Christian world, that God is Love. If you look up love in the Greek, there are three primary words for love. Eros - the love between a man and woman. Phileo - the love between friends and Agape, a self sacrificing love. Agape is the love God has for every Christian. When Christ went to the cross, to pay for the sins of every Christian, He set aside His deity and became man. The Bible says He knows our every pain and emotion. He even experienced temptation in the desert. God loved us so much that He was willing to give up His majesty and power to succumb to the sin of man and die for us. His death was the substitute death (the propitiation) we should have paid ourselves. But instead, Jesus became sin for us and took on the wrath of God in our place. Because of Jesus, we are saved. Because of Jesus, we can stand in the presence of God. He calls us friend.

So what is our response to the Agape Jesus has shown us? How can we ever repay Jesus for what He did for us? The answer lies in our motives and actions. The Bible calls our effort, works. "By grace we have been saved, through faith, not of our own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

What do we see here? First, we see our salvation is a gift. In other words, it was offered by God's free will and desire to give us eternal life. There was no other reason. It had nothing to do with how wonderful we are. Second, it was by faith and this faith came from God. We had nothing to do with the faith it took to be saved. Nothing we did earned this gift. It was not of our own doing. Third, it is a gift. God loved us so much, He gave us the gift of eternal life. And fourth, we could not take credit for our salvation. God did not want His gift to be diminished by our ego or sin. He did not want us boasting about what we accomplished or earned.

When you give something valuable to another person, do you do it to get something in return? Or do you do it so they can enjoy the benefits and joy of your love? Too often, we give to get. Maybe not directly, but whether it is love or joy or a feeling of satisfaction, our gifts usually have some string attached to it. Not so with God. He gave sacrificially. He gave out of love for each of us. God does not need anything. His gift cost Him His most dear and sacred possession, the life of His Son.

Our response to this gift can come in different forms, generosity to others, sacrificial service, dedicated study, prayer, loving others.  All of these please God if and it is a big if - IF we do it out of gratitude. IF we are grateful to Him for what He did for us. It grieves God to think we give to others to earn His love. When Jesus said it was finished, He meant it. The gift was given. There was nothing more He had to do and nothing we have to do. Once saved, our job is to live for His glory. There was never anything we could do to earn His love. There is nothing we can do to keep His love. God is NOT an Indian giver. He did it. It is done, complete, finished.

May each of us remember this when we serve Him. May we each understand and appreciate the great gift God has given us and respond with a loving heart. Knowing that God's gift is permanent. After all, we are His friend.