October 17, 2025 • 13 mins
In this episode of 'Joy in Every Step', Sarita explores the profound themes of gratitude and its connection to compassion. Through biblical references, particularly the story of the Samaritan leper, she emphasizes the importance of returning to thank God for blessings. Sarita discusses the emotional and spiritual benefits of gratitude, distinguishing between momentary feelings and a consistent, grateful disposition. She highlights the example of Paul, who exemplified gratitude in all circumstances, and offers practical ways to cultivate an attitude of gratitude in daily life.
Takeaways
- Gratitude is a gift from God.
- There is a connection between gratitude and compassion.
- Many people forget to thank God after receiving blessings.
- The story of the Samaritan leper illustrates the importance of gratitude.
- Returning to give thanks can lead to spiritual wholeness.
- Gratitude can trigger feelings of happiness and contentment.
- Dispensational gratitude is a consistent state of thankfulness.
- Paul's life exemplified active gratitude despite circumstances.
- Gratitude is associated with positive traits like optimism and hope.
- Cultivating gratitude can be achieved through intentional actions.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Introduction (00:03):
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine
encouragement. This is Joy inEvery Step with your host,
beloved preacher, retiredteacher, and faithful walking
(00:31):
through the valleys or dancingon the mountaintops, Sarita's
voice will guide you back to hispromises step by step. So open
your heart, settle your spirit,and take the next step in faith
with joy in every step.
Sarita Bernadette (00:49):
Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome
back to another episode of Joyin Every Step. I am glad you're
here. Psalm nine and one reads,I will give thanks to you, Lord,
with all my heart. I will tellof all of your wonderful deeds.
(01:11):
Psalm 100 seven:one Oh, givethanks to the Lord, for he is
good, for his steadfast loveendures forever.
Psalm 3zero 12 Lord my God, Iwill give thanks to you forever.
Gratitude is a gift from God.Last week we talked about
(01:36):
compassion and when we took adeeper look we could see that
there's a definite connectionbetween these two emotions. They
kind of go hand in hand. The twoemotions I'm talking about are
gratitude and compassion.
Gratitude and compassion. Sotoday we're going to talk more
(02:01):
about gratitude. If you've beena believer for any length of
time you've probably heard thatbeing grateful is something we
should practice. Anybody outthere grateful today? I know I
am.
I recently thought aboutsomething that I had prayed for
for quite a bit of time and Irealized that God came through
(02:26):
for me and that I really had nottaken the time to thank him for
what he had done. I meanexplicitly thank him. Now hold
on before you judge, beloved.There are times that we pray and
we ask God for something andthen, you know, he comes through
(02:48):
and we just move on with ourlives. You know, we thank him in
the moment, but it's a briefmoment.
And then we go on from there.Our lives are so busy we just
kind of move on with the nextthing. Well, as I reflected and
actually paused, I knew I neededto go back and thank the Lord
(03:12):
for what he had done. I had totake a little more time with it.
And I'll just bet you can thinkof something that you need to
thank God for right now.
There's a story in the Bibleabout a leper from Samaria. The
Samaritan leper. You may haveheard this story before. Out of
(03:33):
10 lepers healed by Jesus, onlyone, a Samaritan, returned to
give thanks with a loud voiceleading Jesus to ask where the
others were. Here's theaccounting from Luke 17 verses
11 through 19.
It reads (03:52):
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along
the border between Samaria andGalilee. As he was going into a
village, 10 men who had leprosymet him. They stood at a
distance and called out with aloud voice, Jesus, Master, have
(04:13):
pity on us! When he saw them hesaid, Go show yourselves to the
priests. And as they went theywere cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he washealed, came back praising God
in a loud voice. He threwhimself at Jesus's feet and
(04:34):
thanked him, and he was aSamaritan. Verse 17: Jesus
asked, 'Were not all 10cleansed? Where are the other
nine? Has no one returned togive praise to God except this
foreigner?' Then he said to him,Rise and go.
(04:54):
Your faith has made you well.These men must have heard the
stories. They had probably heardabout Jesus going from town to
town healing the sick. So theysought him out they laid in wait
for this man they'd heard abouthe tells them to go show
(05:15):
yourselves to the priest and andas they were on their way to the
priest they realized they werehealed. However, only one of
them turned back to give thanks.
So Jesus asks, Were not all 10cleansed? Where are the other
nine? He then tells theSamaritan, Get up and go on your
(05:38):
way. Your faith has made youwell. Beloved, this makes it
clear to me that the act ofreturning to give thanks, the
act of showing gratitude,brought about a spiritual
wholeness as well as thephysical healing.
(05:58):
Jesus said, Your faith has madeyou well or your faith has made
you whole. You see, the actionthe leper took, returning to
praise God, served as evidenceof his faith. He made the
decision to turn around and goback. That act of gratitude is
why we're talking about himtoday. His action is recorded
(06:23):
and it distinguishes him fromthe other nine lepers.
Most importantly, it earned himthe praise of the Savior.
Gratitude is an emotion that Godhas given us, and it is much
more. Listen, the leper who cameback to tell Jesus thank you was
(06:43):
responding to somethingwonderful, And we don't know how
he lived his life after that.All we know is that in this
moment he was healed, and inthis moment he experienced
gratitude as an emotion. We knowthat experiencing gratitude
(07:04):
triggers transmitters associatedwith feelings of happiness and
contentment, namely the releaseof dopamine and serotonin.
We also know that feelingsfeelings are temporary and the
Bible warns us in Jeremiahseventeen:nine, The heart is
(07:26):
devious above all else it isperverse who can understand it?
This verse lets us know thathuman emotions, desires, and
thoughts can be misleading anduntrustworthy. As believers, we
are encouraged to rely on thewisdom of God rather than our
(07:48):
own understanding, namely ourfeelings. We are urged to live a
life that is full of gratitude.Focusing on the blessings in our
lives creates a gratefuldisposition.
A grateful disposition isdifferent from generalized
(08:08):
gratitude. Gratitude is anemotion or a state of gratitude,
if you will, tends to bemomentary or temporary. It also
tends to be situational or tiedto one's circumstances. You feel
it as an appreciation forsomething good that has
(08:29):
happened. Beloved, gratitudefelt as only an emotion can
fluctuate from day to day, andwe don't want to live like that.
Dispensational gratitude is aconsistent and steady and
frequent inclination toexperience grateful feelings
(08:50):
across a whole variety ofsituations. People with high
dispensational gratitude arethose folks who are looking for
the good things happening aroundthem, and they respond with
steady feelings of thankfulness.They're always in a state of
gratitude. These are the peoplefor whom gratitude has become a
personality trait. They'realways searching for and finding
(09:14):
the positive moments in life.
No matter where they are and nomatter what's going on, they're
going to have something to bethankful for. Psalm 30 four:one
reads, I will bless the Lord atall times his praise shall
continually be in my mouth.Dispensational gratitude. You
(09:39):
see the difference here,beloved? Just look a bit closer.
We're going to look a bitcloser. Paul the Apostle set an
example of what a dispensationof gratitude looks like. Paul's
whole life demonstrated anactive, conscious choice to be
grateful rather than a passivefeeling related to his
(10:01):
situation. Paul didn't allowwhere he was or what the early
church was going through toaffect his ability to express
his thanks to God. He wrote muchof the New Testament, and it is
consistently filled withgratitude to God.
Here are a couple of thosepassages. First Thessalonians
five and eighteen (10:23):
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this
is the will of God in ChristJesus for you. Ephesians five
twenty Giving thanks to God theFather at all times for
everything in the name of ourLord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote
(10:45):
four of the New Testament booksor epistles as they are known
from prison. The Bible tells ushe was likely under house arrest
as he penned Ephesians,Philippians, Colossians, and
Philemon.
These four long letters servedto advise the early churches
(11:09):
there, and they continue toinspire and encourage believers
today. He said in Philippiansfour twelve-thirteen, I know
what it is to have little and Iknow what it is to have plenty.
In any and all circumstances Ihave learned the secret of being
(11:31):
well fed and of going hungry, ofhaving plenty and even being in
need. I can do all thingsthrough him who strengthens me.
Whatever my lot thou hast taughtme to say, it is well with my
soul.
Friends, gratitude as anattitude is associated with
(11:54):
contentment, vibrancy,happiness, self esteem,
optimism, hope, and yes,compassion. The Yale Center for
Gratitude practice has notedthat an attitude of gratitude
may also play a vital role insuccessful aging and longevity.
(12:19):
Be thankful, beloved. We cancultivate dispensational
gratitude through intentionalactions like prayer and
expressing our thanks to otherswith our words or gestures like
writing thank you notes. Yes, Isaid writing thank you notes.
(12:41):
We can also make a consciouseffort to recognize blessings in
all of our circumstances and tospeak about them. Paul wrote in
Colossians three fifteen, Andlet the peace of Christ rule in
your hearts, to which indeed youwere called in one body, and be
(13:02):
thankful. Recognizing that wealways have something to be
thankful for shifts ourperspective and makes us aware
of how good God is. Gratitude isa precious gift from God and
it's ours to claim as hisbeloved children. You've been
(13:23):
listening to Joy in Every Step.
I'm Sarita Bernadette, and I'mgrateful you chose to spend some
time here with me. You can findJoy in Every Step wherever you
listen to your podcasts and giveus a follow there. Do check out
the website atjoyineverystep.org.
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine
encouragement. This is Joy inEvery Step with your host,
beloved preacher, retiredteacher, and faithful walking
(00:31):
through the valleys or dancingon the mountaintops, Sarita's
voice will guide you back to hispromises step by step. So open
your heart, settle your spirit,and take the next step in faith
with joy in every step.
Sarita Bernadette (00:49):
Hi, I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome
back to another episode of Joyin Every Step. I am glad you're
here. Psalm nine and one reads,I will give thanks to you, Lord,
with all my heart. I will tellof all of your wonderful deeds.
(01:11):
Psalm 100 seven:one Oh, givethanks to the Lord, for he is
good, for his steadfast loveendures forever.
Psalm 3zero 12 Lord my God, Iwill give thanks to you forever.
Gratitude is a gift from God.Last week we talked about
(01:36):
compassion and when we took adeeper look we could see that
there's a definite connectionbetween these two emotions. They
kind of go hand in hand. The twoemotions I'm talking about are
gratitude and compassion.
Gratitude and compassion. Sotoday we're going to talk more
(02:01):
about gratitude. If you've beena believer for any length of
time you've probably heard thatbeing grateful is something we
should practice. Anybody outthere grateful today? I know I
am.
I recently thought aboutsomething that I had prayed for
for quite a bit of time and Irealized that God came through
(02:26):
for me and that I really had nottaken the time to thank him for
what he had done. I meanexplicitly thank him. Now hold
on before you judge, beloved.There are times that we pray and
we ask God for something andthen, you know, he comes through
(02:48):
and we just move on with ourlives. You know, we thank him in
the moment, but it's a briefmoment.
And then we go on from there.Our lives are so busy we just
kind of move on with the nextthing. Well, as I reflected and
actually paused, I knew I neededto go back and thank the Lord
(03:12):
for what he had done. I had totake a little more time with it.
And I'll just bet you can thinkof something that you need to
thank God for right now.
There's a story in the Bibleabout a leper from Samaria. The
Samaritan leper. You may haveheard this story before. Out of
(03:33):
10 lepers healed by Jesus, onlyone, a Samaritan, returned to
give thanks with a loud voiceleading Jesus to ask where the
others were. Here's theaccounting from Luke 17 verses
11 through 19.
It reads (03:52):
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along
the border between Samaria andGalilee. As he was going into a
village, 10 men who had leprosymet him. They stood at a
distance and called out with aloud voice, Jesus, Master, have
(04:13):
pity on us! When he saw them hesaid, Go show yourselves to the
priests. And as they went theywere cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he washealed, came back praising God
in a loud voice. He threwhimself at Jesus's feet and
(04:34):
thanked him, and he was aSamaritan. Verse 17: Jesus
asked, 'Were not all 10cleansed? Where are the other
nine? Has no one returned togive praise to God except this
foreigner?' Then he said to him,Rise and go.
(04:54):
Your faith has made you well.These men must have heard the
stories. They had probably heardabout Jesus going from town to
town healing the sick. So theysought him out they laid in wait
for this man they'd heard abouthe tells them to go show
(05:15):
yourselves to the priest and andas they were on their way to the
priest they realized they werehealed. However, only one of
them turned back to give thanks.
So Jesus asks, Were not all 10cleansed? Where are the other
nine? He then tells theSamaritan, Get up and go on your
(05:38):
way. Your faith has made youwell. Beloved, this makes it
clear to me that the act ofreturning to give thanks, the
act of showing gratitude,brought about a spiritual
wholeness as well as thephysical healing.
(05:58):
Jesus said, Your faith has madeyou well or your faith has made
you whole. You see, the actionthe leper took, returning to
praise God, served as evidenceof his faith. He made the
decision to turn around and goback. That act of gratitude is
why we're talking about himtoday. His action is recorded
(06:23):
and it distinguishes him fromthe other nine lepers.
Most importantly, it earned himthe praise of the Savior.
Gratitude is an emotion that Godhas given us, and it is much
more. Listen, the leper who cameback to tell Jesus thank you was
(06:43):
responding to somethingwonderful, And we don't know how
he lived his life after that.All we know is that in this
moment he was healed, and inthis moment he experienced
gratitude as an emotion. We knowthat experiencing gratitude
(07:04):
triggers transmitters associatedwith feelings of happiness and
contentment, namely the releaseof dopamine and serotonin.
We also know that feelingsfeelings are temporary and the
Bible warns us in Jeremiahseventeen:nine, The heart is
(07:26):
devious above all else it isperverse who can understand it?
This verse lets us know thathuman emotions, desires, and
thoughts can be misleading anduntrustworthy. As believers, we
are encouraged to rely on thewisdom of God rather than our
(07:48):
own understanding, namely ourfeelings. We are urged to live a
life that is full of gratitude.Focusing on the blessings in our
lives creates a gratefuldisposition.
A grateful disposition isdifferent from generalized
(08:08):
gratitude. Gratitude is anemotion or a state of gratitude,
if you will, tends to bemomentary or temporary. It also
tends to be situational or tiedto one's circumstances. You feel
it as an appreciation forsomething good that has
(08:29):
happened. Beloved, gratitudefelt as only an emotion can
fluctuate from day to day, andwe don't want to live like that.
Dispensational gratitude is aconsistent and steady and
frequent inclination toexperience grateful feelings
(08:50):
across a whole variety ofsituations. People with high
dispensational gratitude arethose folks who are looking for
the good things happening aroundthem, and they respond with
steady feelings of thankfulness.They're always in a state of
gratitude. These are the peoplefor whom gratitude has become a
personality trait. They'realways searching for and finding
(09:14):
the positive moments in life.
No matter where they are and nomatter what's going on, they're
going to have something to bethankful for. Psalm 30 four:one
reads, I will bless the Lord atall times his praise shall
continually be in my mouth.Dispensational gratitude. You
(09:39):
see the difference here,beloved? Just look a bit closer.
We're going to look a bitcloser. Paul the Apostle set an
example of what a dispensationof gratitude looks like. Paul's
whole life demonstrated anactive, conscious choice to be
grateful rather than a passivefeeling related to his
(10:01):
situation. Paul didn't allowwhere he was or what the early
church was going through toaffect his ability to express
his thanks to God. He wrote muchof the New Testament, and it is
consistently filled withgratitude to God.
Here are a couple of thosepassages. First Thessalonians
five and eighteen (10:23):
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this
is the will of God in ChristJesus for you. Ephesians five
twenty Giving thanks to God theFather at all times for
everything in the name of ourLord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote
(10:45):
four of the New Testament booksor epistles as they are known
from prison. The Bible tells ushe was likely under house arrest
as he penned Ephesians,Philippians, Colossians, and
Philemon.
These four long letters servedto advise the early churches
(11:09):
there, and they continue toinspire and encourage believers
today. He said in Philippiansfour twelve-thirteen, I know
what it is to have little and Iknow what it is to have plenty.
In any and all circumstances Ihave learned the secret of being
(11:31):
well fed and of going hungry, ofhaving plenty and even being in
need. I can do all thingsthrough him who strengthens me.
Whatever my lot thou hast taughtme to say, it is well with my
soul.
Friends, gratitude as anattitude is associated with
(11:54):
contentment, vibrancy,happiness, self esteem,
optimism, hope, and yes,compassion. The Yale Center for
Gratitude practice has notedthat an attitude of gratitude
may also play a vital role insuccessful aging and longevity.
(12:19):
Be thankful, beloved. We cancultivate dispensational
gratitude through intentionalactions like prayer and
expressing our thanks to otherswith our words or gestures like
writing thank you notes. Yes, Isaid writing thank you notes.
(12:41):
We can also make a consciouseffort to recognize blessings in
all of our circumstances and tospeak about them. Paul wrote in
Colossians three fifteen, Andlet the peace of Christ rule in
your hearts, to which indeed youwere called in one body, and be
(13:02):
thankful. Recognizing that wealways have something to be
thankful for shifts ourperspective and makes us aware
of how good God is. Gratitude isa precious gift from God and
it's ours to claim as hisbeloved children. You've been
(13:23):
listening to Joy in Every Step.
I'm Sarita Bernadette, and I'mgrateful you chose to spend some
time here with me. You can findJoy in Every Step wherever you
listen to your podcasts and giveus a follow there. Do check out
the website atjoyineverystep.org.
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