Gratitude is the feeling of appreciation for favors received. It is a debt that is not legal but moral, in which all the beneficiaries do not have to pay. Words of gratitude don’t cost much, but they always fill the recipient with joy, whenever they are expressed.

It is our duty to cultivate the virtue of gratitude, so as not to take people’s good will for granted, however little we think it may be.

Ten desperate people came to Jesus asking for help. Jesus took pity on them and healed them. To Jesus’ greatest surprise, only one returned to acknowledge what God had done with his life, and most surprisingly, this was the most unlikely to come; because he was a foreigner and a Samaritan.

On the other hand, Jesus was also happy for this one who was coming, and he left Jesus with more blessings. (Luke 17:11-19). This shows that only about 10% of us sincerely show gratitude.

Gratitude requires humility: If you are not humble, you may find it difficult to express warm compliments. Gratitude shows the sincere state of mind. It pays to be grateful at all times, both in our successes and in our failures.

Of all the vices known to man, ingratitude is the worst. A royalist saying goes that ‘gratitude is the least of all virtues, while ingratitude is the worst of all vices’. A thoughtful heart is a grateful heart. Gratitude says Ballou “is the most beautiful flower that springs from the soul.” Saint Paul urges us to always be grateful.

Appreciative minds are always happy people. There are thousands of reasons why you should be grateful. Don’t let a day go by without giving yourself several compliments. A joyful life begins with a deeper appreciation of God’s love.

In the words of renowned American writer and motivational speaker, John Mason, ‘be aggressively grateful’, in almost the same statement, Nnamdi Azikiwe, the 20th century Nigerian journalist and politician, notes: ‘To my God, a heart on fire, to my neighbor, a heart of love and myself, a heart of steel’.

Gratitude as a healthy gesture springs from the heart and makes the heart happy. By being grateful, we create beautiful memories in people’s psyches and leave beautiful memories behind. Start immediately to be grateful, if you don’t, you won’t know how much you have been blessed to be grateful for.

George Kaitholi warned: ‘appreciation can work wonders, it can encourage the discouraged, turn the lazy into active, make small achievers better and help big achievers… the best way to make a good impression on others. The other thing is to let them know that they are making a good impression on us. We make a good impression by praising their efforts on us, thus motivating them to do more. Therefore, always be grateful that you have no reason not to.

There is nothing that hurts the human heart more than total or when the giver discovers that the rejection of his gifts was not appreciated. Sometimes we spend a lot of time begging, pleading, or counting what we have not received from God, instead of showing gratitude for what we have received.

That is why we hardly give thanks again when we receive favors like the other nine lepers who did not bother to appreciate the good work of Jesus in their lives. It may be, they thought it was their right to be healed.

Gratitude is a treasure of the heart. Never miss an opportunity to say sincere thanks. The practice of thanksgiving has a very old and very solid biblical foundation. Cain and Abel, the 3rd and 4th human beings created by God, started it all (Gen 4:3-4). After the great flood and the destruction of the original world created by God, Noah gave thanks to God (Gen 8, 20, 15-22, Lk 17, 11-19). Abraham made several offerings and sacrifices but the greatest was that of Isaac – it was a clear manifestation of his faith (Gen 22: 1-3).

In the New Testament it was started by the parents of Jesus (Lk 2, 22-24), Jesus also did it in Mc 14, 22-23. Thus, when we express gratitude we are not doing something new; instead, we are continuing the great tradition of scripture.

Now, meditating on the nature of gifts, it is good to be aware that anything we give to God must be of the highest quality, for example, the number one reason God accepted Abel’s gift was because of his quality.

When we thank God, we add nothing to His greatness or perfection, but we hurt Him when we vehemently refuse to do so. Our offerings and sacrifices to God must be costly (2 Sam 24:24).

Man is always in debt to his creator, an existentialist philosopher; Martin Heidegger did not mince words when he said: ‘By calling man to think, being has endowed man’s nature with a thought that thanks, a thought that remembers and gives thanks. In reflective, grateful thought, man perceives himself as indebted.

The blessings that come from being grateful are manifold.

God is not happy when we show signs of ingratitude and outright disobedience. Let’s master the secret of remaining grateful so as not to offend him. When you are grateful you are at peace with yourself. It’s something emotional.

If you are always grateful, it will be difficult to fall ill. I speak from experience, but this does not mean that if you get sick, it means that you are ungrateful. I have not been able to see any happy person who is ungrateful.

Being grateful causes heaven to fill you with more favors and multiple prosperity. The beautiful and wonderful things that surround us, the flowers, the trees, the clouds, the birds in the sky and even the contemplation of supreme happiness, God himself, are enough reasons to be grateful to God.

An ungrateful heart always complains and grumbles, and this is not good for its health. When the Lord freed the Israelites from the slavery of slavery, and even fed them with manna from heaven, they were still ungrateful, and their ingratitude displeased the Lord (Numbers 11:1). God is not happy when we dislike his kindness to us.

The key word here is to develop a grateful attitude, because great blessings await those who are grateful: they will be more glorious and receive earthly gifts in abundance from the giver and controller of the universe. May our hearts overflow with gratitude at all times.