A Grateful Life with a Samaritan Spirit

Rosalio Campa
Luke 17:11-19 And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, (although as Christians we should celebrate Thanksgiving every day in our lives) I want to remind you that everything we have is from God.

The story in Luke 19 is a beautiful reminder of the spirit and the type of gratefulness we should have.

As Jesus entered that village, the 10 lepers came out to meet him. They were crying out, shouting, and begging for mercy. When Jesus looked at them, he did not tell them, as he had told many, you’re healed. But he told them:

Luke 17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

One of the greatest blessings and gifts that God shows us is that His miracles were never done to gain fame. They were not done because we deserved them. Jesus did miracles simply because He is God, and God in His mercy manifested His love through miracles.


But the interesting thing here is in vs.15-19 “ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

When Luke says that this was a Samaritan, it identifies the attitude of the other lepers who were Jews, and the kind of spirit they had after they saw themselves clean and healed. What Luke was reminding us was that this Samaritan had a correct attitude of gratitude for what Jesus did.

As Christians, we need to be reminded that gratitude needs to always have the correct attitude or spirit, being grateful with the wrong attitude or spirit is never something God wants us to have.

Here are some ways to keep the right attitude in our gratitude:

1. Someone who wants to have the right attitude in his gratitude is constantly looking at his new life.

Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

Sometimes when we forget how good God is being with us, we need to look back and see what he has done for us.

Never forget, who you were, and who you are now… a sinner saved by grace.

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.


Years ago, walking through the street, I saw a man walking towards me and in front of his shirt it read, “I’m not the man I need to be.” But the back of his shirt said, “But I’m not the man I use to be either.”

1 Samuel 15:17-19 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?  

2. Someone who wants to have the right attitude in his gratitude will always come back to Christ.

Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

When this Samaritan saw that he had been healed, he turned around to glorify Christ.

This Samaritan returned with a spirit, an attitude of gratitude -- glorifying God.

You cannot have gratitude in your heart with a spirit that is dissatisfied, negative, full of hatred, and resentment.

3. Someone who wants to have the right attitude in his gratitude lives to glorify God.

Luke 17:15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

This Samaritan, when he saw that he had been healed, his attitude changed and he returned to Christ, glorifying God with a loud voice.

I cannot fail to mention that thanksgiving means expressing my gratitude through action with the right spirit.

My life should express my gratitude to God before this world in these areas:

• Testimony

• Speech

• Clothing

• Soul Winning


Am I glorifying God in each of these areas?

Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Rosalio Campa

Pastor Campa serves the Lord full-time as our Spanish Pastor. He and his wife have three children.

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