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The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

Editor’s note: Next week, lead editor Michelle Melchor also discusses the topic of  giving thanks but from the thoughtful perspective of having a debt of gratitude. Don’t miss it.

By Lori Arnold — 25 November 2025

Airline flights have been booked, car tires have been checked and gasoline tanks are full. Turkeys are thawing in the fridge and recording devices have been set for the big NFL games. Even if the weather doesn’t hint at Thanksgiving, the calendar does. Families are ready, so are appetites.

As Christians, we know that gratitude should not be relegated to a single day in the fall. We are called to have grateful hearts. One of my favorite articles on the topic was written by author and small group leader Fred Bittner, who shared his thoughts in a publication, “A Biblical Model for Thanksgiving,” making the case for approaching the holiday as more than a gorge fest and pigskin paradise. He wrote:

“To give thanks to God always required some sort of sacrifice. In many cases, that meant the sacrifice of animals. In other cases, sacrifice included being willing to proclaim the good news. … To offer thanks meant some sort of personal sacrifice. Nowhere in the Scripture is this better modeled than through David.”

The author then presented this passage in 1 Chronicles 21:23-24 (New International Version).

“Araunah said to David, ‘Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.’

“But King David replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.’” 

Bittner went on to ask a direct and personal question.

“As we give thanks to the Lord on the day set aside for national Thanksgiving, take time to reflect on your own personal sacrifice to the Lord. What has thanksgiving cost you? What blessings have you received as a result of your sacrifice? The sacrifice may have been time, talents, treasures, or relationships, but a biblical model for Thanksgiving is one that has counted the cost for discipleship.”

Bittner is right. Gratefulness requires more than lip service. It calls for sacrifice. It’s the essence of thankfulness. If we are thankful, we will show it.
 

“... a biblical model for Thanksgiving is one that has counted the cost for discipleship.”


In the past few weeks, thousands of Cru® Inner City staff members, volunteers and donors have teamed up to distribute Boxes of Love® in dozens of U.S. cities. Each box contains all the things necessary for a traditional Thanksgiving meal for six, plus gospel literature for both children and adults.

Although it’s too early to know how many boxes will be distributed, more than 17,000 of them were handed out in 2024, with the potential of feeding more than 100,000 grateful residents.

In the next few weeks and months, we will be learning more about the impact of this outreach, but in the meantime, we are confident that this simple act of love demonstrates what Bittner calls "A Biblical Model for Thanksgiving."

May it be just the beginning.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Inner City ministry of Cru!
 

 

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Lori ArnoldLori Arnold serves as the senior writer for Cru's inner-city ministry.

 

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