How Will Gratitude Improve Our Lives?
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COLUMN: SQUARE ONE
How Will Gratitude Improve Our Lives?
by Richard Mansel, assistant editor
A preacher, in a moment of frustration, wonders why he has
seen hundreds helped by loving churches and yet so few come
back to say thanks and come to the Lord, who supplied their
blessing.
We live in a world where entitlement often replaces
gratitude. People expect it as a matter of course in a
material world. Wrappers left in the parking lot replace
gratitude in the heart.
Narcissism is an overriding preoccupation of self. Mason
Cooley says, "The narcissist enjoys being looked at and not
looking back." /1 We see our needs and rarely those of
others. We fail to awaken to see our own condition and our
need for growth and change. Everything is in relation to our
own appetites. Empathy becomes a foreign concept.
Entitlement comes from an early age when we learn the values
of life. Our role models, regardless of where their words
point, lead us to good or ill. If they are grateful for what
they receive, we will likely be, also. If they see only
entitlement, we will see others as tools to accomplish what
we want and we will rarely stop to express thanks.
Gratitude and the mumbled thanks is not necessarily the same
thing. We must not confuse the two. The latter is expected
and may be robotic, not heartfelt and genuine. It is sometimes
a hollow word expressed as a matter of course. Gratitude, on
the other hand, pauses and expresses it through the eyes and
the warmth of their touch.
In an impersonal age, we see less of gratitude. Gratitude is
personal and requires a genuine connection. People feel
vulnerable when they open themselves up. We find more comfort
in remaining closed to the world. Therefore, we dispense with
gratitude as we hurry back into our shell.
Gratitude changes our perspective. The mundane comes to live.
We see what others are doing to make our lives better. In our
office, we may stop to thank the person who cleans the
building at night. Usually, they never hear anything until
they have made a mistake. Would their attitudes not be better
if we were also attentive to when they do well?
When others are grateful for what we do, we are thrilled and
often redouble our efforts to improve. Why would the pride we
feel not be true of others? Sometimes it will not, as we have
noted. However, if we all began being openly grateful, things
would change.
Besides the social and societal aspects of an ungrateful age,
we see that it extends to our spiritual lives. While the word
gratitude is rare in New Testament translations, thankfulness
is a very common concept. God commands us to be thankful
(Psalm 100:4; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 Thessalonians 5:18).
In Luke 17:11-19, we find a story of ten lepers who come to
Jesus for healing. He sends them to the priests for cleansing.
However, only one leper is grateful enough to return.
The grace, mercy and salvation that Christ brings to our lives
should lead us to be eternally grateful to God. It should lead
us to a commitment that can withstand the cheap assertions of
Satan. It will change our entire perspective on life.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and
more. It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house
into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings
peace for today, and creates a vision for
tomorrow." /2
1/ tinyurl.com/64nz9z
2/ http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/33653.html
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