By Yong Soo Li

After staying with me for a week, my elderly relative did not express thanks even once. To her, it was likely unimportant, a small thing.

She had fallen and due to her own circumstances, could not be home alone in the first week post-fall. She was physically weak. I became her helper-cum-caregiver. I was kept very busy with her meals, occupying her, washing her clothes, accompanying her daily to the restroom in the day, night and the early hours of the morning. The hardest part was she was withdrawn, sullen and uncommunicative with me. I had offered to house her not for her appreciation but any little expression of it would have made it easier for me to ride through the demanding week. Feeling unappreciated, I thought about the importance of “thank you”.

It is God’s will for us to “give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Many psalms portray thanksgiving to God as a lifestyle, not just for good times. Man’s heart of rebellion against God started when he refused to honour or thank God (Romans 1:21).

The object of my thanks is God. However, God does not need my thanks. I am the one who needs the posture of gratitude. When I thank God, I’m acknowledging His love, wisdom and power, and therefore not taking Him for granted. When I go through a bad time, yet I am to look for God’s goodness with a grateful heart, His Spirit deepens my faith, contentment and joy in Him. I am then able to treat others with humble appreciation and kindness.

My relative’s journey in learning to be thankful is more for her own sake, not mine. Through it, she would grow a humbler and much happier spirit.