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I approached a person and thanked them for their work. The person, who did not know me, immediately became defensive. He said, "I would rather the people didn't clap or say Amen. The praise is all to go to God."
Well, he had a point. And what he said was true.
The problem is, I wasn't praising him. I was thanking him.
So when is it okay to say or receive a thank you?
1. Sometimes thank you means: I appreciate you. I am glad you are here. The person hasn't really done anything other than be present, listened, maybe enjoyed an evening together, etc. This form of thank you is a form of kindness and encouragement to the individual and spurs them to repeat the act, which God would want us to do.
2. Sometimes thank you means: I accept what you are giving whether it is a gift, time, labor, etc. This is said before the receiver actually knows what all is involved. Like: a wrapped gift, kids appearing at the door with yard tools in hand, a child offering a song or act, a husband driving to a yet to be named restaurant in celebration, a friend offering to pray for a need. God would want us to encourage the person's willingness to offer what they had.
3. Sometimes thank you means: I love/like/appreciate you. We should say thank you to our children for good things they do, thank you to spouses for helping and acts of kindness, thank you to business persons for jobs well done, etc. Actually, I would even think God would want us to thank ourselves for listening and obeying God. We need to encourage ourselves to keep going.
There is a huge gap between pride and accepting thanks.
Pride is wrong. Pride is stealing honor and glory from God.
Accepting thanks is like letting your kids/family/friends/co-workers celebrate a landmark birthday that you are really sad has arrived. When you accept the thanks you are:
1. encouraging those involved to do kind deeds for others
2. you are honoring their efforts
3. you are actually honoring God because He put the idea in the minds of those who thought to do the deed.
Go ahead and say thank you to them.
Let others say thank you to you.
God is showing His love for you through the Thank You words and actions of others.
So, don't discount the good actions of others when they come to you and thank you. When you do, you're teaching them not to thank others and do kind deeds for others.
It's okay to say...you're welcome. And if you want, tag on...I'm thankful God has given me you.
I AM thankful God has given me you.
Have a sunny day filled with blessings from God, sometimes delivered by the people around you.
This post has been brought to you by the one-word: Thank-you
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