I’ve been a Christian for many years, and I always enjoy having a conversation with someone who has recently come to faith. Their gratitude for their salvation is infectious. Their desire to learn, grow, and know God is a reminder that I should feel that same way. My soul is blessed when I am around someone who has “tasted and seen” that the Lord is good! 

Gratitude is infectious, and those of us who have walked with God for many years need to remember to praise God for the grace we might have come to take for granted. Grace is our gift of salvation, but it is also our gift of sanctification, the process of being made holy. 

Jesus taught his disciples, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). 

Every tree or shrub in our yards eventually needs to have a few branches cut off or pruned back. That is truth for our spiritual lives as well. 

Sometimes an area of service is no longer our calling. Sometimes there is an old habit or tendency we have allowed to creep back into our characters. There is always going to be the next temptation we need to be careful to ignore or purge from our lives. As long as we live on this earth, we will need to call on God’s grace.

The Lord is constantly at work in our lives, redirecting our calling, convicting us of sins that hinder our sanctification, and pruning the places in our souls that cannot produce the fruit of our faith. When we are aware of his sanctifying grace, we will offer him our gratitude. Others are likely to see the changes in our lives, and we will have the opportunity to share God’s grace with them.

Evangelism isn’t just about leading others to the Lord; it is helping them walk with his grace for their spiritual growth as well. That is how we “increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”

Wisdom is offering our gratitude to God. Wisdom is gratefully living for our salvation and for his continued grace through our sanctification.