THE BIBLE'S VIEWPOINT/Gratitude

How does gratitude improve our relationships with others?

WHAT EXPERIENCE TELLS YOU

When we express sincere gratitude-whether for a gift, a kind word, or practical help-we make the giver feel valued and appreciated.  Even strangers respond warmly to people who sincerely thank them for doing a kind deed, such holding a door open.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

"Practice giving," said Jesus Christ, "and people will give to you.  They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down, shaken together, and overflowing."  (Luke 6:38)  Consider the experience of Rose, a deaf girl in Vanuatu, an island nations in the South Pacific.

Rose attended the Christian meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses but got little benefit from them, since neither she not anyone else in the congregation knew sign language.  When a couple who were proficient  sign-language interpreters visited the congregation and saw the problem, they started a sign-language class.  Rose was deeply grateful.  "I am happy to have so many friends who love me," she said.  Seeing her gratitude and watching her now participate in the meetings is more than enough reward for the couple who helped her.  Rose also deeply appreciates the efforts that others made to sign language in order to communicate with. - ACTS 20:35.

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