“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
I remember focusing a lot on teaching my children to be thankful. The short-term goal I wanted them to say “thanks” when they received a gift. The long-term goal still is to raise grateful human beings.
There are a few studies that analyzed how parents influence children’s gratitude experiences.
During one study of fourth and fifth-grade students and their biological parents, a small but statistically significant relationship between the self-reported gratitude of the children and their mothers were found, but not between the children and their fathers.
A different study explored why more grateful parents might have more grateful children. The results were that more dispositionally grateful parents were more likely to place their children in situations that might evoke feelings of gratitude, such as volunteering for people in need.
I can tell that these parents were teaching gratefulness on purpose. Here are a few tips:
1. Change your Mind - You can't give what you don't have so if like me you have a problem with complaining, change your mindset. The easiest way to renew your mind and enter into a thanksgiving lifestyle is to know what God has to say about it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." God wants us to live with a thankful disposition. Thankful people have a different way of interpreting the world because they see things from a Godly perspective.
2. Practice what you Preach - My father started jogging in his 40s and he also increased the nutrition in his food choices. Only after I saw his change I believed that I too could live a healthier lifestyle. More was caught than countless hours of teaching. In the same manner, we teach our children to be thankful by modeling gratefulness. How often do you thank people for doing things for you on a regular basis? How often are you specific about your reasons to be grateful? Be bold in practicing Thanksgiving in front of your kids because they are eagerly absorbing your behavior.
3. Make it Fun and Purposeful - Be sure that the Thanksgiving activities you do with your kids have a purpose. You can teach kids to be thankful for others by making Thank You cards or crafts and actually delivering them to different people. This way your kids will be able to see the impact of thanksgiving in the heart of the recipient. Mealtimes are natural, daily times to teach children to be thankful. You can tell your kids that Jesus was thankful for His food (Luke 22:19) and so should we. This year when you think of Thanksgiving crafts, make it purposeful by showing your kids that thanksgiving is a blessing to others. If you have adult children, you can share this challenge with them. You can tell them what you are learning. You can also pick their brain and ask what do they think about the relationship between thanksgiving and complaining.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to model a life of thanksgiving so our children will want to be thankful. They can’t be what they can’t see. So let them see You shine through me. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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