This Thanksgiving, like every Brigham Young University fan, I’m even more grateful than usual.
How about that BYU football team? My alma mater was picked to win four games this season. Right now, they’re 9 and 2. The mighty Cougars have surpassed everyone’s expectations, except perhaps for the expectations of the coaches, the players and the BYU student section that roars at every home game. However the season turns out, it will have been an amazing season.
I also have five other reasons why I am deeply thankful this year. I hope these blessings transform your life as they have transformed mine.
Thankful for daily opportunities to love
Jesus’ call to love our enemies is one of the most radical aspects of the Christian faith. In Matthew 5:44, he commands us, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” This kind of love is not natural — it’s supernatural. It’s the overflow of a heart transformed by the love of God.
Every day, I’m thankful for the chance to reflect Christ’s love in how I treat others, even when it’s hard. Whether it’s showing kindness to a stranger, forgiving someone who’s wronged me or choosing compassion over anger, these moments are opportunities to live out the gospel. And when we love our enemies, we show the world a glimpse of God’s kingdom — a kingdom where love triumphs over hate and grace wins.
Thankful for the love of God
The love of God in Christ is the foundation of the historic Christian faith. God’s love is not a sentimental love or a shallow emotion. His love reaches into the darkest parts of our lives and chooses us even though we’re unworthy. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 5:8, “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s love in Christ is gracious, sacrificial and transformative. Knowing I am loved by God frees me from chasing approval and people pleasing. His love gives me the courage to love boldly and live fully. When I wake up each day, I remind myself, “I am a beloved child of God.”
Thankful that I am cleansed from sin
When we are honest, we know life is messy, and sin stains every part of our existence. But here’s the good news: Jesus’ blood cleanses us completely. Not halfway, but totally. The blemishes created by sin are eternally gone: “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14). Jesus’ blood washes away our guilt and shame.
This truth humbles me. I don’t stand before God on my own accomplishments. I don’t earn His grace. I simply receive it as a gift. And because I’ve been forgiven much, I’m empowered to extend forgiveness to others.
Thankful for the grace of God
Grace is the unmerited favor of God. It’s his goodness poured out on people who don’t deserve it — people like you and me. Grace meets us in our failures. As Paul testified in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.”
I am thankful for God’s grace because it reminds me that I don’t have to earn, strive or perform to be accepted by God. Grace teaches me that life is not about what I can do for God, but about what He has done and continues to do for me. That truth keeps me humble and reliant on him.
Thankful for the power of the Holy Spirit
The Christian life is not about human effort; it’s about divine empowerment. The Holy Spirit, God’s very presence in us, equips us to love, serve and persevere. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom when we don’t know what to do, strength when we’re weary, and courage when we’re afraid. As Paul writes in Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he will also bring your mortal bodies to life.” I’m thankful for the Spirit’s power because I know I can’t do life on my own. It’s the Spirit that prompts me to think and live wisely, and to share the gospel.
Living out Thanksgiving
Gratitude is more than a feeling; it’s a way of life empowered by the One who is the Way, Truth and Life. My prayer for all of us this Thanksgiving is that we would cultivate a deep, abiding thankfulness that fuels every aspect of our lives. Let’s be a people who live in gratitude — and in doing so, reflect Jesus to the world.
The Rev. Derwin L. Gray, who played football for BYU from 1989-1992, is the co-founder and lead pastor of Transformation Church in South Carolina and the author of “Lit Up With Love: Becoming Good News People To a Gospel-Starved World.”