One Hundred Reasons

Why I'm Thankful to Be a Child of God

In my Sunday School class one Sunday in Maine, I made an off-hand remark that I thought I could probably come up with 100 reasons why I am glad I am a Christian. One of my students said, “Then why don’t you?” I counter-challenged my class of fifth and sixth graders to each come up with a list of twenty reasons why it is good to be a Christian. I made one qualifier. Only ten percent of the reasons could be about heaven. I wanted them to see that the joys of being a Christian are for today, not just for the distant future when they die, as important as that is. While this is by no means exhaustive, this is my list.

1. The One to whom I give thanks during this season is not some mysterious “higher power” but a friend who is closer than a brother.
2. I can be at peace. (Rom. 5:1)
3. I have everlasting comfort. (II Thess. 2:16)
4. I can always have hope. (Heb. 6:18-19, I Pet. 1:3)
5. The Almighty God loves me. (John 3:16 and many others)
6. I can be content with little because I have God. (Heb. 13:5)
7. Nothing can separate me from God’s love. (Rom. 8:35-39)
8. He gives me a reason (many reasons, actually) to sing. (Psalm 146:2)
9. No one can take God’s joy from me. (John 16:22)
10. I am a joint heir together with Jesus. (Rom. 8:17)
11. I am receiving an inheritance which will never lose its value. (I Peter 1:4)
12. God will provide for all of my needs. (Phil. 4:19)
13. He will not withhold anything from me that is good for me. (Psalm 84:11)
14. I cannot out-give God.  (Luke 6:38)
15. God can take the little we have and make it last for as long as we need it.  (I Kings 17)
16. Jesus is preparing a home for me in heaven (John 14:2)
17. I have a mansion (well, at least a perfect dwelling place) awaiting me.  (John 14:1)
18. I can endure any trial on this earth because they are so small compared to the glories that await us in heaven. (Romans 8:18)
19. Some day I will be part of a great multitude from every tribe and nation who worship our Savior together. (Rev. 7:9-10)
20. The things of this earth that seem so valuable now will be the construction materials of heaven.  So if my jewelry is fake, it doesn’t matter.  Either way, it won’t be worth anything to me then.
21. I do not have to worry about being rich in this life because our riches in heaven will far exceed anything we imagine here. (John 14:1-3; Revelation 21)
22. I get to begin my eternal life with God now.  (John 17:3)
23. I will get to spend the rest of eternity with Jesus.
24. There is nothing that can separate me from God’s love.  (Romans 8:38-39)
25. I am accepted because of Jesus. (Ephesians 1:6)
26. God knew me before anyone even knew my great-great-grandparents (II Timothy 1:9)
27. God chose me before the world was formed to be holy and blameless in His sight (Eph. 1:4)
28. I have been adopted into God’s family (Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:5)
29. Jesus is my older brother (Rom. 8:29)
30. I have been created to do good works.  (Ephesians 2:10)
31. I belong to a huge international family that has been brought together under God through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  (Ephesians 3:15)
32. In Jesus, I have a perfect example to follow.  I do not need to worry that one day I will find out that my example was not worth following. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
33. I have been given a new nature.  (II Corinthians 5:17)
34. God is my Keeper. (Psalm 121:5)Therefore, I am His keepsake. (Ps. 121:5)
35. I belong to a huge family that is made up of others who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 3:14-15)
36. I am secure in God’s hands. (John 10:28)
37. Jesus gives me abundant life.  (John 10:10)
38. The Lord will carry me, even into my old age. (Isaiah 46:4)
39. I should have been cursed because of my sin, but Jesus became accursed and died for me in my stead. (Galatians 3:13)
40. Since God gave up his only Son in order to redeem me, I can be positive that He will not withhold anything good from me.  (Romans 8:32)
41. God’s truth has made me free. (John 8:32)
42. God has let me in on the mystery of His will (Eph. 1:7)
43. God has opened my understanding so that I can know the hope and the riches to which He has called me. (Eph. 1:18)
44. I have access to all the truth I need through God’s Word. 
45. I may boldly appear at the throne of grace at any time (Hebrews 4:16)
46. My prayers will be answered. (Matt. 7:7-8)
47. When I cannot put my heart’s needs into prayer, the Holy Spirit takes what I offer and turns it into genuine prayer to God.  (Romans 8:26)
48. God is always ready to help me. (Ps. 145:18)
49. I do not have to go through a priest to have my prayer heard. 
50. Because of Jesus, I have access to the Holy of Holies. (Hebrews 10:19)
51. God has outlined the good works I am to do and directs me toward them (Eph. 2:10)
52. God is on my side. (Psalm 118:8)
53. God will never leave me. (Heb. 13:5)
54. God even gave me the heart I needed to have in order to seek Him.  (Jeremiah 24:7)
55. He is my hiding place. (Psalm 32:7)
56. God will keep working on me. (Phil. 1:6, I Peter 5:10)
57. We are on the winning side. (Rom. 8:31; I Cor. 15:5)
58. God is my refuge in every trial. (Ps. 46:1)
59. The Holy Spirit is there to comfort me in every trial. (II Corinthians 1:4)
60. In every trial, I can be sure that God is bringing good into my life. (Rom. 8:28)
61. I am like a sweet perfume to God. (II Corinthians 2:15)
62. God’s grace saved me. (Ephesians 2:8)
63. God does not deal with me as my sins deserve.  (Ps. 103:10)
64. God’s grace is available to me for every trial.
65. God is rich in mercy toward me. (Ephesians 2:4)
66. God’s mercies are new to me every single morning. (Lamentations3:22-23)
67. God is faithful to keep all of His promises. ( II Corinthians 1:20)
68. God is my light. He makes the way clear when all seems dark. (Psalm 27:1)
69. God gives us wisdom and the revelation of Himself through the Holy Spirit. (Eph. 1:17)
70. I am, even now, seated in heavenly places with Jesus. (Eph. 2:6)
71. I have the Holy Spirit with me to convict me when I sin. (John 16:8)
72. Sin no longer has the same power over me (Rom. 6:14)
73. I have been forgiven of all my sin (I John 1:9)
74. God has removed my sins from me as far as the east is from the west.  (Psalm 103:12)  Another analogy for the same thought:  He has sunk my sins into the deepest sea.  (Micah 7:19)  Corrie TenBoom was known to say, “And then he posted a sign that said, “No fishing.”
75. God will not allow me to be tempted or tested beyond what I can bear. (II Corinthians 10:13)
76. God is much stronger than the devil or his minions. (I John 4:4)
77. God gives me a song to sing, even in times of darkness.  (Job 35:10, Psalm 42:8)
78. I do not have to fear the powers of darkness.  When I resist them, they will flee.  (James 4:7)
79. God gives me everything I need to fight the powers of darkness.  (Ephesians 6:11)
80. God is able to keep me from falling. (Jude 1:24)
81. God preserves me from the guilt and consequences of sins by keeping me from the sin itself.
82. God will forgive when I repent. (I John 1:9)
83. There is never an end to God’s unfailing love.  
84. With God’s help, I can do anything He asks of me. (John 15:4, Philippians 4:13)
85. God will not stop working on me. (Philippians 1:6)
86. God is working in me to want and to do His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
87. I can do the will of God just by being thankful. (I Thess. 5:18)
88. I do not have to worry about what God’s will is for my life because He has told me what it is: sanctification. (I Thessalonians 4:3)
89. He has made me truly alive (Eph. 2:1)
90. The Almighty God is going to get glory from His work in my life. (II Cor. 4:15)
91. God restores my soul. (Psalm 23:3)
92. My God is slow to anger.  (Psalm 145:8)  When he does get angry, he does not keep his anger forever.  (Ps. 103:9)
93. By faith, I can please God.  (Hebrews 11:6)
94. With God, all things are possible.  (Mark 10:27)  Therefore, anything God asks me to do is possible.
95. The Lord is my help.  (Ps. 54:4)
96. Whenever I draw near to God, He draws near to me.  (James 4:8)
97. Because of God’s grace, I understand that all the beauty of nature around me is a gift from Him.
98. All of my sins were put to death on the cross. 
99. Because of God’s grace at work in me, I can make a list like this that comes with gratitude from the heart.
100. I know how it’s all going to end.  Even so, come Lord Jesus.

I went on a walk this afternoon and was thinking about this list.  Half a dozen more ideas came to mind.  So if you see a couple you think should have been combined into one, don’t worry.  I still have more.