When I was praying yesterday morning the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said “develop your attitude of gratitude. Be grateful for Jesus. Be grateful for who He is more than for what He does for you.” Being grateful for who the Lord is is becoming more of a habit for me so His suggestion was eye opening. I think gratitude is the best attitude. We tend to whine more than we thank. It’s human nature. Family, friends, people at work speak the whining language well. It’s one language most people speak fluently. Just like any other language, the more you hear it the more you pick it up. Hearing it a lot and you will be speaking it extremely well. There is a danger there though. The Lord never said whine your way through life. He said “Give thanks in all circumstances ” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Sometimes what we take for granted is someone else’s miracle. It’s easy to underestimate what we have but we are called to be thankful in all things and for all the things the Lord gives us. If we eat three meals a day every day and it’s part of our routine we tend to expect those meals to always be there. There are people who would do anything to get three warm meals every day but yet we don’t see it as a big deal. Gratitude sees everything as a big deal. Gratitude rejoices over the smallest things. Gratitude finds any opportunity to say thank you.
“Thank you, Lord” is a powerful statement. First it shows that you believe God is active in your life and then it demonstrates that you are being in line with the Word of God. God says we should be thankful all the time and obeying Him is the start of all wisdom. I have found that the most crucial time I need to thank the Lord is when things are not going too well. That’s the best time to find reasons to be grateful. It changes the atmosphere and it puts me on a level where faith holds me up. When the going gets tough, your attitude of gratitude should be tougher. When you are in the concert of your life, your thanksgiving and your praises should be louder than your whining. Better yet the whining has to go. See where you are still whining and complaining in your life. That whining has to go. Make thanksgiving your daily song and forget the lyrics for the whining song.
It is my prayer today that we all focus more on thanking the Lord all the time. Let’s thank Him for who He is. The Bible describes Him extremely well. As we grow in the knowledge of who He is we should also grow in giving thanks for who He is. I start my days telling Him how grateful I am that He is love incarnated. I thank Him for the Holy Spirit. I thank Him for the Cross and for the blood. I thank Him for being more wonderful than I will ever know. The attitude of gratitude should be a way of life. Let’s make it a priority! Let’s unlearn the whining language and let’s become fluent in thanksgiving!
Suggested reading: 1 Chronicles 16:34; Colossians 3:15; Colossians 3:17
Words of hope for today 