I had a little experience yesterday that reminded me of something, and laying in bed I was pondering posting about it. You see, I saw something that has become rather rare.
It's called gratitude.
Now, we are all taught from a young age to say "please" and "thank you" like good little boys and girls. And, at least most of the time, we use the training which we received. For instance, I find it quite easy to remember to say thank you to the clerk at the grocery store. Don't you? It must just be ingrained in us. I even typically say it with a little chipper tone, to make sure that they know I really mean it. :)
But when was the last time that you saw genuine gratitude in someone? The gratitude I saw on this child's face last night was so remarkable that it made me smile hours later.
Gratitude can be a powerful motivator. God designed us this way. After all, it is supposed to be "by the mercies of God"-- in other words, in view of how merciful God has been to us-- that we are charged to present ourselves as His living sacrifices (Romans 12:1). Every good work in the Christian life ought to relate back to the gratitude which we feel for what Christ has already done for us. Gratitude really explains a lot of what worship is-- our response to God in view of all He has done! I believe that this is how we learn how to be grateful to others-- by first learning how to be truly grateful towards God, the greatest Giver of all.
I was challenged by a little kid who ran to say "thank you very much," accompanied by the biggest smile you've ever seen. I'd love to have the opportunity to surprise someone in much the same way, expressing a heart that is filled with gratitude for what they've done, big or small. So next time I have the chance to thank someone, I might just take a moment longer to contemplate how truly grateful I am. Perhaps the more often I reflect on how richly the Lord has blessed me (in more ways than I can fathom), the more likely it is that deep gratitude will become a regular part of my life.
1 comments:
You know, this might sound kind of trite, but one thing I started doing prior to me finding that the Spirit was speaking to me and calling me to God was writing a weekly list of 5 things that I was grateful for.
Even before I was a believer, these lists really made me more aware of my blessings. In fact, I feel that these lists were a tool that God used to let me hear the Spirit as He explained to me that I was not just lucky, I was BLESSED!
So, it may be cheesy, but it might help you with the things you were expressing in this post. If nothing else, it is kind of fun to sit down and come up with a new, original list each week. I found that after a few months, the list of things I had to be grateful for really added up, and that my blessings were overflowing!
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