Why should we thank God?

Posted on July 22, 2009 by gokulmuthu

On a mailing list, a person had asked a question “Why should we thank God? We do not keep thanking our parents everyday. And having created us, isn’t it His duty to provide for us? Also, even if we are grateful, doesn’t He know about it without us telling Him? Do we need to thank Him?”
Here is the reply:
God surely has no “utility” of our thanks to Him. Also, God does not depend on our act of thanking Him to know that we are actually thankful to Him. It is for our sake. If we do not get into the habit of thanking Him physically, verbally and mentally, we may slip into a state of ungratefulness. To keep our mind in a healthy state of remembering Him, we need to thank God.
By bringing God into every situation, we will be able to face success with humility and failure with dignity. We will not be carried away by the ups and downs of life. This will take us closer to God. Thus God becomes the way and the goal.

Download article as PDF
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

12 Responses to Why should we thank God?

  1. Chandra sekar says:
    July 25, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Dear Gokul,

    Very valid point.
    My opinion: – any word we use oftern may loose the value or the TRUE value. So, I may not tell every time Thanks to Parent or colleague. (The view may be worldly view ).

    But some one says – Thanks to me – I have to reply them, ” Thank God, not me” or “Thank God”. This more important . (This is spirtual -point of view )
    *Is it make any sense ?
    THANK YOU, Brother Gokul for your Time and Effort for sharing the Truth, always.

    Reply
  2. Chandra sekar says:
    July 25, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Dear Gokul,
    Very valid point.
    My opinion: – any word we use oftern may loose the value or the TRUE value. So, I may not tell every time Thanks to Parent or colleague. (The view may be worldly view ).
    But some one says – Thanks to me – I have to reply them, ” Thank God, not me” or “Thank God”. This more important . (This is spirtual -point of view )
    *Is it make any sense ?
    THANK YOU, Brother Gokul for your Time and Effort for sharing the Truth, always.

    Reply
  3. Sandesh says:
    August 17, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    It is imploring to say that thanking ones self and thanking others is more apt than to thank something which is conditional coherent. That’s completely my view. I have a question, if everything was Gods good grace why don’t we thank him for our miseries instead of despising him?

    Reply
    • gokulmuthu says:
      August 17, 2009 at 3:09 pm

      Thanking others is a transaction. Thanking oneself is merely a psychological ritual. There is a powerful self motivating technique mentioned in several self-help books called “reward yourself”. It is the same thing. Thanking God is also a psychological ritual. It helps the person to handle situations better.

      Surely, a sane person will thank God for miseries too. We learn more from miseries than from titillations. Even if the person is not on terra firma to thank God during the misery, at least he should thank for the misery when he is a more balanced state of mind.

      Reply
  4. Sandesh says:
    August 17, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    It is imploring to say that thanking ones self and thanking others is more apt than to thank something which is conditional coherent. That’s completely my view. I have a question, if everything was Gods good grace why don’t we thank him for our miseries instead of despising him?

    Reply
    • gokulmuthu says:
      August 17, 2009 at 3:09 pm

      Thanking others is a transaction. Thanking oneself is merely a psychological ritual. There is a powerful self motivating technique mentioned in several self-help books called “reward yourself”. It is the same thing. Thanking God is also a psychological ritual. It helps the person to handle situations better.
      Surely, a sane person will thank God for miseries too. We learn more from miseries than from titillations. Even if the person is not on terra firma to thank God during the misery, at least he should thank for the misery when he is a more balanced state of mind.

      Reply
  5. sandesh says:
    August 17, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    As you rightly said we can talk about it for several lifetimes.. Thee Facto I am an intrigued person so Just a quick question: How do you define “Sanity”? if you claim Majority is the way then its ruled out because I can get a million “followers” who claim that I am insane. So I am looking for a concrete answer.

    Reply
    • gokulmuthu says:
      August 17, 2009 at 3:37 pm

      By “sane person”, I mean a person who can judge things without being carried away by whims and fancies, likes and dislikes, etc. Most of the times for most of the people, like and dislikes govern decisions than an intellectual analysis of good and bad. A sane person is one who lives by “dos and donts” instead of by “likes and dislikes”. See http://gokulmuthu.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/how-to-lead-a-purposeful-life/

      This comes to the popular question: what is good and what is bad. Indian philosophy gives an interesting answer. I will write about it soon.

      Reply
  6. sandesh says:
    August 17, 2009 at 3:27 pm

    As you rightly said we can talk about it for several lifetimes.. Thee Facto I am an intrigued person so Just a quick question: How do you define “Sanity”? if you claim Majority is the way then its ruled out because I can get a million “followers” who claim that I am insane. So I am looking for a concrete answer.

    Reply
    • gokulmuthu says:
      August 17, 2009 at 3:37 pm

      By “sane person”, I mean a person who can judge things without being carried away by whims and fancies, likes and dislikes, etc. Most of the times for most of the people, like and dislikes govern decisions than an intellectual analysis of good and bad. A sane person is one who lives by “dos and donts” instead of by “likes and dislikes”. See http://gokulmuthu.wordpress.com/2009/05/24/how-to-lead-a-purposeful-life/
      This comes to the popular question: what is good and what is bad. Indian philosophy gives an interesting answer. I will write about it soon.

      Reply
  7. S.Das says:
    December 30, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    Just to say that we have to thank God with all of our emotion, feeling, a sense of gratitude. “Thank God” has become a common phrase which is automatically pronounced when we have been saved from any danger or we get our expected objects.

    Whenever we say “Thank God”, we should feel that S/He is doing so much for us. Then it will be not like a mere repetition, but a true remembrance of our beloved.

    Reply
  8. S.Das says:
    December 30, 2009 at 6:05 pm

    Just to say that we have to thank God with all of our emotion, feeling, a sense of gratitude. “Thank God” has become a common phrase which is automatically pronounced when we have been saved from any danger or we get our expected objects.
    Whenever we say “Thank God”, we should feel that S/He is doing so much for us. Then it will be not like a mere repetition, but a true remembrance of our beloved.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  ×  2  =  4