The Writing on the Wall

the attitude of gratitude

A co-worker asked me to write something about gratitude for her. I was kind of at a loss as to what to say at first, feeling as though I didn't have anything worthwhile to say. However, I made a vow, to never give up an opportunity to give a word for the Lord.

I went to church with my brother Sunday morning and his pastor talked about humility and gratitude (interesting isn't it). From that sermon, I came away with several thoughts:

1.) Humility is required for gratitude
2.) A lack of gratitude is a sign of a lack of humility
3.) When we are humble, God will give us the grace to be Gratefull
4.) An attitude of gratitude can make your life a wonderful place for you and those around you.

I suppose that it is somewhat obvious to say that humility is required for gratitude, but it is very important to recognize that I can not be truly grateful if I am not honest about what and who I am and what I truly deserve. It is easy to be thankful for something that I realize I didn't deserve, but those things I think are coming to me are often the things that I forget to be grateful for. Often we think we are entitled to a "good" life, that maybe God owes us this. This is incorrect, God owes us nothing! In fact, everything that He has given us is given from grace and is for our betterment, even though we do not enjoy it.

I like to look at things sometimes in terms of tell tale signs. Instead of recognizing that I am not grateful for something and beating myself up for it, I look at it as a sign that I need to re-evaluate myself in terms of being humble.

You see, being humble is the key to gratitude. In James 4 it says that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. When we understand that we deserve nothing good, and God owes us nothing but is working everything (both good and bad) for our future good then it becomes natural to be grateful for everything. And by everything I mean everything -- our enemies, our problems, our friends, our family, our failures, our triumphs, our confusion, our limitations, our disapointments.

When we display this attitude of gratitude, it is like a breath of fresh air in a moldy world, it makes dealing with life so much easier. Can you imagine, being truly grateful for a flat tire in the middle of a rainstorm when you are late for that pivital meeting, getting demoted at work due to office politics, getting passed over for that new job oppertunity, failing a class, or losing something precious to you forever. Can you imagine the impact that kind of genuine attitude can have on the people who see it in you. Maybe, just maybe people will see Jesus in your attitude and say among themselves, "God still walks among men" in that man or woman.

well, that's all for now,
tayl

Posted by GodzScout at June 24, 2004 12:28 AM