8 Bible Stories for Children About Being Thankful

Thankfulness and being grateful are proven to boost your outlook on life and also have several other benefits. These ideas help recenter our minds, take our thoughts off of everything going wrong, and put it back on everything that is going right. Yet, thankfulness is not always easy to show or even feel, especially when going through difficult times. However, if we take a look at the Bible, we will run into story after story of people who leaned into being grateful. These Bible stories about being thankful are a great place to start when teaching kids.

These are not the only stories from the Bible that depict how to be thankful. The stories on this list display gratefulness in the middle of storms, times that required great faith, and more. If you are looking for a Bible story to teach your kids about thankfulness, you can't go wrong when choosing one from this list.

• Found In: Luke 17:11-19

When it comes to Bible stories about being thankful, this is one of the most well-known. One day, while Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he encountered ten lepers. Since the lepers were unable to touch other people, they stood on the side of the road and shouted. They asked Jesus to have mercy on them. In reply, Jesus tells them to go show themselves to the high priest and he also heals all ten of the people with leprosy. After he realized that he was healed, one of them came back to Jesus and fell down at his feet in thankfulness.

When the man came back after his healing to thank Jesus, Jesus asked, where are the rest? Although the man could have gone about his day, he decided to come back and show gratitude.

• Found In: 1 Samuel 2:1-10

In 1 Samuel chapter one, we see Hannah in agony because she doesn't yet have a child. She wept bitterly and asked God for a son, promising to commit him to the Lord. God blessed Hannah and gave her a son whom she named Samuel.

In chapter two, we can read about the thankful heart that Hannah shows before the Lord after receiving her blessing. She didn't take the blessing and forget her promise to God. She held true to what she said she would do and dedicated Samuel to God. He became one of the most well-known prophets from the Old Testament and guided both Saul and David.

• Found In: Daniel 6

Another one of the best Bible stories about being thankful can be found in the Book of Daniel. King Darius appointed 120 satraps to rule through his kingdom. One of those satraps was Daniel, who loved God. Since he was outstanding at his job, many of the other administrators hated him. They wanted to devise a plan to charge Daniel with something, just to get rid of him. However, Daniel was favorable and upright.

The only way the others could think of to trip up Daniel was a law where no one was allowed to pray to anyone except for the King.

The plan was set to trap Daniel.

Although Daniel knew what the repercussions would be, he continued to open his windows and pray and give thanks to God, like he always did. He could have kept his windows closed or given thanks quietly, but he didn't. Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, with the other satraps hoping he was devoured.

The King was happy to see that Daniel was found alive the next morning and Daniel continued to give God thanks.

• Found In: Matthew 14:13-21

In all four gospels, you can find the Bible story of when Jesus feeds the 5,000. During Jesus' ministry, he was often followed by large crowds and in this instance, a very large crowd followed him to a solitary place. After teaching them for some time, Jesus tells his disciples to feed the people. They were a little confused because they had no food to give. They thought about going to town and buying food but knew even then, they would not have enough to feed 5,000 people.

A young boy was able to give them five barley loaves and two fish. Loaded with the only food they could find, the disciples gave it to Jesus, even though they didn't know the miracle that would happen, they chose to trust him. Jesus took the food and gave thanks to God. Then, he told his disciples to feed the people. They were able to feed everyone who was there that day because God multiplied the food. They even had leftovers. In this Bible story, you can see that Jesus gave thanks to his Father before the miracle happened.

• Found In: Jonah 2

Jonah was a man of God who was instructed to go minister to the Ninevites. However, the Ninevites were sinful people, and Jonah didn't want to go to their town. Instead, he ran away. The choices he made led to him being thrown into the ocean and swallowed by a whale. While he is in the belly of the whale, Jonah confesses to God, asks for forgiveness, and then gives thanks.

While Jonah was in the most dire of situations (I mean he was eaten by a whale!) he still found it in himself to give thanks to God. We can learn from this Bible story of Jonah. No matter the situation we find ourselves in, it's still possible to give thanks. We can be at our lowest of lowest, like Jonah, and giving thanks is still an option.

• Found In: John 4:7-31

One day, Jesus sends his disciples off and goes to Samaria. There he meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well and asks her for a drink of water. However, since the woman was a Samaritan and Jesus was a Jew, this was considered not socially acceptable. She tells Jesus this and he states, "If only you knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you life-giving water."

Jesus goes on to minister to the woman, revealing things about herself that a stranger shouldn't know. Like that, she had been married five times and was not living with a man who was her husband. She realizes that Jesus is the Messiah who they had been waiting for. After the disciples returned the woman left Jesus to go tell them all that Jesus knew and who he was.

The Samaritan woman gave thanks outwardly by being open with the townspeople. She didn't care that it meant revealing her sins or what they would say about her. All she cared about was sharing the truth of what Jesus told her and who he was.

• Found In: Philippians 4:12-13

If there was a man in the New Testament who had what one would consider "it all," it was Saul (later renamed Paul.) He was a high-ranking Jew who made it his mission to persecute Christians in the early days of Christianity. However, one day, on the road to Damascus, Saul had an encounter with God. His conversion led to a name change, and from there, Paul became one of the most influential leaders in the Christian Faith. He wrote several of the New Testament books, which are actual letters to churches.

In Philippians, Paul tells the church to "rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" However, the church of Philippi was facing immense persecution.

Paul writes the church from prison, while also facing persecution. It's hard to understand how Paul was able to give thanks under such circumstances. Yet, he writes to the churches that being content in any situation comes from God.

• Found In: The Book of Job

In the book of Job, God asks Satan if he saw his servant Job and how righteous he was. Satan replied that Job was only righteous because of the hedge of protection that God had over him. If God was to allow affliction to come into Job's life, then Job would curse God. So, God allowed Satan to touch Job as long as he spared his life.

Throughout the book of Job, we see that he loses his children and his livelihood, suffers painful sores, and becomes down and out. His friends come to comfort him, yet do it in a way that isn't helpful. They try to figure out what exactly Job did to deserve the kind of anguish that he has. Job's wife even tells him to curse God and die. Yet, Job refuses to go into self-pity and curse God. Instead, Job approaches God with his pain, and although he has questions, he still continues to give God thanks despite his misery.

Giving thanks is something we can practice in our daily lives. This practice helps us train our minds to look toward the positives. It isn't always easy to be grateful during difficult times. However, if you are facing circumstances that seem dire, or you just want to talk to your kids about being grateful, using the Bible can be a great teaching opportunity. The stories from the Bible dive deep into several types of situations. From terrible situations that seem hopeless to giving thanks before something great happens. These are some of the best Bible stories about being thankful to teach kids.