I'm going to take time to clarify the points I made in last Sunday's post. First of all, I want to point out that a grateful heart won't make a person immune to life's troubles. Being appreciative won't create a utopia in one's life. Job 14:1 points out that man that is born of a woman is few days and full of trouble. You will experience troubles in this life, regardless whether you are saved or lost, grateful or ungrateful. Thankfulness doesn't cause a person to live a trouble-free life. However, a heart full of thanksgiving will help that individual as they travel through life's journeys. One thing's for certain, you will face problems in this life. There's no way of escaping that. Your attitude and disposition will determine how you will handle the pressures of life. Troubles and trials will happen.
In the post written last Sunday, I was stating how important it is for parents to instill into their children the importance of being thankful. I will mention that I'm not a parent nor am I an expert on child rearing. However, I was once a young child myself and I do know that I wish I was more appreciative growing up. I do know it's important for parents to teach their children to be thankful. The truth of the matter is there aren't many parents today, even in Christian homes that can teach their children to be thankful because there are many parents in this generation that are unthankful. We can spend our time blaming the young people for their unthankful, unappreciative attitudes. However, the young people have learned to be unthankful by watching their parents at home. They've watched their parents used their tongue to ridicule the man of God or the brethren in the House of God. They've watched their parents complain about situations in life at the drop of a hat and watched them dissatisfied with life. We wonder why young people tend to be unthankful. They've seen it in their parents. Parents must set the example and show their children by their actions and attitude that we must be grateful for what the Lord has done for us. Parents can't complain about the unthankful attitudes of their children if the parents are unthankful themselves.
It's very important that parents teach their children history. It's important that children know what life was once like years ago. Why? Because children need to develop an appreciation for the blessings God's bestowed upon us today. Children need to understand that people in the past have lived with far less than what we have today. Many children today can't imagine what life was like without i-pods, i-pads, cell phones, laptops, and the internet, etc. I'm 40 years old and I can remember what life was like without all the technological advances we enjoy today. Children need to be aware that it took a lot of creativity, entrepreneurship, and labor for the gadgets and conveniences we enjoy today. When you take a look at the landscape of America, you're seeing over 400+ years of labor. Men and women have sacrificed and labored to build the major cities in America. The Pilgrims and the Puritans came to a wilderness in Massachusetts in 1620 and 1630. They didn't enjoy nice homes, vehicles, restaurants, etc. They didn't enjoy a comfortable living like we do today. We need to teach our young people history so they can understand how blessed they are in this generation. A sense of thankfulness must be instilled into children. Parents must lead the way.
As mentioned earlier, a heart of thanksgiving won't produce a bed of roses in one's life. Life is full of problems. You'll experience trials and heartaches regardless of how thankful you may be. There are scores of testimonies of people who went through the fire but they kept their eyes on the Lord and they were grateful. A heart of thanksgiving won't change your circumstances. However, it will change you. It will help you as you go through trials. Proverbs 3:5 says lean not upon thy own understanding. We must understand that we will go through trials in life and won't understand everything. Nevertheless, we must keep our hearts and minds pure and trust in Him. We need to understand God knows best. Sometimes that can be difficult. We try to utilize our own reasoning to figure out God's ways. That's something we can't always do. God's ways are higher than our ways. We must trust Him and maintain a heart of thanksgiving. I Thessalonians 5:18 says in everything we are to give thanks. That's the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. God wants us to give thanks in everything. Married or unmarried we are to give thanks. Whether or not we have five children or no children we are to give thanks. When we are in a trial we are to give thanks. If we are employed or have just lost our job we are to give thanks. Philippians 4:11 says that whatsoever state we are in we are to be content. You can't be content unless you're thankful. If you possess an ungrateful heart then you won't be content.
We are all going to suffer in this life. We're going to fight battles. If we're one of God's children and we live Godly in Christ Jesus, we'll suffer persecution. That's life. People experience troubles regardless whether they're saved or lost. However, those that are saved have the potential to be thankful. We must take time to remember what God's done for us. We need to understand God's goodness in our lives. More important than that, we must understand how unworthy we are of God's goodness and grace. If we take time to ponder how unworthy and undeserving we are and that we deserve hell, it should produce in our hearts gratitude towards God. When we recognize how sorry we are as humans and how we fall short of God's grace, it should produce a heart of gratefulness towards God knowing that he loves us and is merciful toward us in spite of our shortcomings. I'm thankful God's mercies are renewed every day. I'm thankful God's good to us in spite of us. We should be grateful that God doesn't throw us away due to our ungrateful attitudes. God's been good to us and it hurts God knowing what He's done for us and we allow ourselves to be unthankful.
We also need to understand that God never makes a mistake. God knows what he's doing. God wants the best for us. Many times we don't understand that. Our perception of what's best for our lives is different than what God knows is best for us. We'll experience trials that we won't understand. There are women that are married that are unable to bear children. Some have had difficult times in understanding why they're not able to bear children. Sometimes they question God and don't understand what's taking place in their lives. Sadly, there have been some that have become bitter as a result of God not granting them the desires of their heart. There will be times we have desires that we expect God to grant us and he doesn't necessarily answer our prayers the way we desire for Him to. God doesn't always grant us some of the specific prayer requests we petition to God. However, God's not out to hurt nor destroy us. Sometimes it's not God's will that he grant those particular requests. Other times it may be an issue of God's timing. There are other times God wants us to draw closer to him and trust in him. Whatever the issue may be, we must not allow ourselves to become bitter because God didn't grant us the desires we so desperately wanted. I do recognize that's easier said than done. I've failed miserably in that area myself. Many people have struggled with being thankful and content with God's will for their lives. However, if we'll trust God and maintain a heart of thanksgiving, it will help us to endure and go through the trials that we face in life. A heart of thanksgiving will prevent us from becoming bitter. I heard someone say once that trials will either make you bitter or better. If we take our eyes off the Lord and fail to maintain a thankful heart, then we'll become bitter. We must trust him and purpose in our hearts that we're going to be thankful towards God regardless what life may bring us.
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