Thankfulness doesn’t always come easy, especially when we are struggling.
The best thing I’ve found to help me be more thankful is to keep a thankfulness journal.
You can buy a small, spiral notebook and use that or download my Gratitude Challenge or Gratitude Prompts Binder here to help.
When you’re first starting out, make it a goal to write down 10 things you’re thankful for each day.
As time goes on, remain faithful in your writing and write as many as you can think of that day. Really stretch yourself too!
This will help you not become bitter and help you to praise and worship God more too. It will also help improve your mood!
Being thankful is so vital to the Christian life for so many reasons, but it’s not just a good idea. Did you know that God COMMANDS us to be thankful?! 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
Literally, if we are not being thankful, we are in sin! Let’s take a look at what else Scripture says about being thankful in these 30 Bible verses about thankfulness.
30 Bible Verses About Thankfulness
1) Ephesians 5:4
“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”
2) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
3) Philippians 4:4-7
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious 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 surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
4) Psalm 50:23
“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”
5) 1 Chronicles 16:34
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”
6) Psalm 9:1
“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
7) 2 Thessalonians 1:3
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.”
8) Colossians 3:15-17
“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.“
9) 2 Corinthians 9:11
“You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”
10) Jonah 2:9
“But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”
11) Psalm 7:17
“I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.”
12) Jeremiah 30:19
“Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving, and the voices of those who celebrate. I will multiply them, and they shall not be few; I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.”
13) 2 Corinthians 4:15
“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
14) Psalm 103:1-4
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,”
15) Ephesians 5:18–21
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
16) Psalm 100:1-5
“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
17) Luke 22:19
“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
18) Psalm 28:7
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
19) Hebrews 12:28-29
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
20) 1 Timothy 2:1-2
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
21) Psalm 50:14-15
“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
22) Ephesians 1:15-21
“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,”
23) Psalm 118:24
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
24) Hebrews 13:15
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”
25) Psalm 69:30
“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.”
26) Colossians 1:3
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.”
27) Colossians 2:6-7
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
28) Psalm 107:1–3
“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.”
29) Colossians 4:2
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.”
30) Psalm 118:28-29
“You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”
