More Than An Attitude of Gratitude
We are past Thanksgiving and heading into the Christmas season now. I listed things I was grateful for last week. There are always new things for me to be thankful for each day. It’s not hard to find that attitude of gratitude we are told to have.
But how often do we express it with words? It can show through our actions, but how does anyone else know our motives if we don’t express them with words? Are we expecting gifts because we feel we deserve them or are we truly grateful for what someone has done for us? Are we letting the ones we love know how we truly feel?
Please don’t say, “You know my heart.” In all honesty, I may know some of it, but I can only assume what motivates you to do things for or with me. It’s human nature to be selfish and to preserve our self-resilience and independence. I can honestly admit to having done things that others saw as my gratitude for them, but my motive was to get something back from it. Who am I to think I deserve something out of it? This is probably why Jesus told us to do things for others with one hand and not to let the other know. We are all too fond of turning around and boasting about what we did.
We also can turn critical and gossip about others. Those we gossip about may be ones we pretend to show gratitude to whenever around them. So why do we lead people on as if we like them when we despise them in our heart to the point of criticizing them to others? The hard answer. We are getting something out of our interaction with them. When we do this, we are simply using them.
Maybe knowing how we can not be pure of heart in our actions is why we don’t voice our gratitude. What if the other person doesn’t care about our thanks? It doesn’t matter what they will think. It is up to us to be honest with them about how we feel. It is up to us to tell them a heartfelt thank you if we truly appreciate them and what they do for us.
Our attitude of gratitude should lead us to saying how we feel. We have plenty to be thankful for and we need to say it. Speaking our thanks is a way of praise that will resonate with the giver and those around us. We should thank God for every blessing we get. Our thankfulness should raise as praise to him. This is why many give thanks over every meal, which I should get better at doing.
We honestly don’t deserve the blessings we get from God and others if we are not receiving with a grateful heart. We can’t expect others to know our heart if we don’t take the time to express it with words that can go beyond actions. Usually, if we are giving to receive something in return, we are not operating with an attitude of gratitude. With this attitude, we don’t feel the need to say thanks because it was supposed to happen, and we’ll be angry if the gift does not come as expected.
I’ve operated with the wrong attitude too much in my life. It took getting to know Jesus to realize this. Many of his teachings make little sense with our culture’s worldview. However, as I learn to operate with gratitude for Him, I find myself more thankful and life is far more enjoyable. Then it bubbles over to others. I try to say thank you whenever I get help, expected or not. Also say it when people give us a compliment because it shows our appreciation for them noticing something. We are so fast at downplaying any compliment.
Let’s learn how to be gracious receivers who thank God and those in our lives. Let’s be gracious givers who expect nothing in return. Our attitude of gratitude should inspire others to wonder about us and the joy we have in life, despite our circumstances.