Gratitude Letters
“I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers”
-Ephesians 1:16 (NIV)
Saying “thank you” is one of the earliest lessons that many of us learn as children, a key part of the childhood etiquette package along with “please”, “sorry”, and “excuse me”. But although those two simple words are foundational, free, and downright easy to say, I am often surprised by how infrequently I use them in my everyday life, or just cursorily mumble them under the guise of politeness. After embarking on a week-long gratitude challenge – trying to intentionally thank others for any help that they gave me, no matter how minor – I found that not only did it improve my relationships with colleagues, but I felt happier as well. Turns out that I’m not the only one: a great deal of research has shown that saying “thank you” can have a profound impact on our lives and the lives of those around us, increasing our own sense of happiness, well-being, and deepening our relationships with others.
Living gratefully isn’t just for our well-being, though – I believe it’s a crucial part of what it means to be a person of faith. Cultivating a deep appreciation of the blessings that God and others place in our lives helps shape who we are – and one easy way that we can practice living out our gratitude is by writing thank-you notes.
How You Might Go About This:
Discussion Questions
-Ephesians 1:16 (NIV)
Saying “thank you” is one of the earliest lessons that many of us learn as children, a key part of the childhood etiquette package along with “please”, “sorry”, and “excuse me”. But although those two simple words are foundational, free, and downright easy to say, I am often surprised by how infrequently I use them in my everyday life, or just cursorily mumble them under the guise of politeness. After embarking on a week-long gratitude challenge – trying to intentionally thank others for any help that they gave me, no matter how minor – I found that not only did it improve my relationships with colleagues, but I felt happier as well. Turns out that I’m not the only one: a great deal of research has shown that saying “thank you” can have a profound impact on our lives and the lives of those around us, increasing our own sense of happiness, well-being, and deepening our relationships with others.
Living gratefully isn’t just for our well-being, though – I believe it’s a crucial part of what it means to be a person of faith. Cultivating a deep appreciation of the blessings that God and others place in our lives helps shape who we are – and one easy way that we can practice living out our gratitude is by writing thank-you notes.
How You Might Go About This:
- Start by brainstorming a list of people that you want to thank! Saying “thank you” isn’t exactly difficult, but you probably have dozens of people in your life who you may not say it to enough! Write a few names down.
- Try to go even deeper. Now, who are people who help others or perform services in our society that may not receive a lot of thanks? Teachers, soldiers, garbage collectors, bus drivers, janitors – the list may look different, but who do you think would be surprised to hear a kind word and would appreciate it?
- Commit to writing a thoughtful ‘thank you’ to someone from your list for 7 straight days. Developing a life posture of gratitude can be surprisingly tough without intentional practice; start a new habit by saying thanks every day!
- Be specific and genuine in your thanks. What are one or two things that you really appreciate about this person? Being specific will help them know that people notice the kind things they do and they’ll truly feel appreciated.
Discussion Questions
- How does it feel when someone says “thank you” or gives you a compliment? How did it feel to be able to do that for someone else?
- Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, in which Paul talks about living generously and with gratitude in our lives. Who is someone that you consider to be generous, and how does their generosity affect others? How could you live more like that?