When we take Communion, we are reminded of what Jesus did for us on the cross.

It’s not an empty ritual that Christians do just because they have to. Instead, God wants us to practice Communion to help us remember. Why do we need to remember? So we can be grateful. You can only be grateful for those things that you remember.

Communion is also called the Lord’s Supper. It is a habit of gratitude because it helps us remember what Jesus did for us on the cross.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, “On the night he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread and said, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.’

“When supper was over, he did the same with the cup. He said, ‘This cup is the new promise made with my blood. Every time you drink from it, do it to remember me’” (GW).

Jesus gave us the bread and the wine as a memory tool. We use this tool to practice gratitude for what it cost Jesus to pay for our salvation.

Another word for Communion is the Eucharist. This is a Greek word that means “thanksgiving.” Communion is meant to be a model of thanksgiving. It’s one of God’s favorite ways that we give thanks to him! We can show thanks to God in many ways—through songs of thanksgiving, through thanksgiving offerings, or through the thanksgiving cup.

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16 NIV).

When we drink from a Communion cup and eat the bread, we are saying to God, “Father, thank you for sending your Son to live a perfect life and die for our sins so that we can be forgiven.”

As we remind ourselves of the high price Jesus paid to save us, the only reasonable response is gratitude.