Cultivating a Heart Full of Thanksgiving

Thankfulness isn’t just a seasonal tradition—it’s a spiritual posture rooted deep in Scripture and woven through history. Psalm 100:4 calls us to enter God’s presence with gratitude, a theme that began long before American holidays and continues to shape the way believers respond to God’s goodness today. From Old Testament thank offerings to the Pilgrims’ courageous faith, we’re reminded that gratitude grows strongest in hearts that remember God’s faithfulness through every circumstance.

Highlights

• Biblical thanksgiving began with offerings of gratitude long before modern celebrations.

• Leviticus and 2 Chronicles reveal how God invited His people to display thankfulness through worship.

• America’s Thanksgiving tradition is deeply influenced by the Pilgrims’ commitment to biblical truth.

• Despite tremendous suffering, the Pilgrims lived out 1 Thessalonians 5:18 by giving thanks in all circumstances.

• Historical accounts show how miraculous their survival truly was—only a fraction lived to see the first feast.

• The Pilgrims’ perseverance helped lay the foundation for a national day dedicated to thanking God.

• Leaders like Washington and Lincoln carried forward the tradition of national gratitude to the Lord.

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Full Transcript Below:

Cultivating a Heart Full of Thanksgiving

By Lynette Kittle

Bible Reading:

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name”—Psalm 100:4

Offering thanksgiving didn’t begin in America; it began in the Bible, taught to humankind by a loving and gracious God who is deserving and worthy of our gratitude, and to receive thankfulness that comes from hearts truly grateful for all He has done and is still doing in our lives and in our nation.

Thanksgiving to God, often associated with food offerings, began in the Bible. As early as Leviticus 7:12, we read how God instructed, “If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in.”

Again, in 2 Chronicles 29:31, the King calls for the people to give thanks. “Then Hezekiah said, ‘You have now dedicated yourselves to the Lord. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the Lord.’ So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.”

America’s Thankfulness Rooted in Biblical Truth

Remarkably, Thanksgiving Day in America is rooted in the biblical faith brought and carried to our land through the Pilgrims who courageously escaped Europe’s tightly held religious control to pursue freedom to worship God.

Creator and Executive Producer of The Pilgrims documentary, Dr. Jerry Newcombe, follows the Pilgrims from Europe to the New World, documenting their faith and journey to America.

The Pilgrims, even in the suffering they endured in Europe and after arriving in America, believed what 1 Thessalonians 5:18 urges, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Newcombe describes the harsh winter leading up to the first 1621 Thanksgiving, marked by illness, cold, and starvation. Of the eighteen women aboard the Mayflower, only four survived. As well, half the married men and ten of the twenty-nine unmarried men died. Children survived better than the adults, with seventeen of the twenty surviving the brutal conditions.

Still, very few Pilgrims survived the devastating “starving times” and sickness to participate in the first Thanksgiving, enduring what 2 Corinthians 4:8 describes. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.”   

As well, historian and author of The Treacherous World of the 16th Century & How the Pilgrims Escaped It: The Prequel to America's Freedom, William J. Federer, discusses facts that some may overlook, such as how miraculous it was for the Pilgrims to escape Europe and birth America.

“Of the 102 Pilgrims, only 47 survived till spring,” writes Federer, “At one point, only a half dozen were healthy enough to care for the rest.”

The Pilgrims Laid the Groundwork for Thanksgiving

“Without the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving Day, set aside to thank God,” states Federer, “it may not have ever been established. They laid the groundwork and foundation for America to set aside a holiday to thank God.”

Although not officially called Thanksgiving Day at the time, the Pilgrims were able to kick off America’s tradition of giving thanks to God with a three-day feast with the Native Americans. 

Devoted to a purity of the Gospel, the Pilgrims recognized the importance of thankfulness, even in the most difficult of times, understanding it as a sacrifice to God. As Psalm 116:17 directs, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to You and call on the name of the Lord. “

“Because of them,” writes Newcombe, “we have had 400 years of Thanksgiving in America, and thanks to Presidents Washington (who declared the first national day of Thanksgiving) and Lincoln (who made it a yearly event), we even celebrate it as an annual holiday.”

Newcombe, who also serves as Executive Director of Providence Forum, an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries, shares President George Washington’s declaration for a national day of Thanksgiving, “[I]t is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.”

Intersecting Faith & Life:

Ask God to lead you in cultivating a heart full of thanksgiving. Begin by studying His word, spending time in prayer thanking Him for His faithfulness, and telling others of all He has done in your life.

Further Reading:
Entering His Gates with Thanksgiving: 5 Ways to Cultivate a Grateful Heart Towards God

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