An Attitude of Gratitude
Colossians 3:15-17 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are also called in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
A fussy sound from my baby girl awakened me once again from a somewhat sound sleep. I rolled over and pulled her close to nurse yet again. I was getting frustrated. Why was she waking more and more at night? Her sleep was becoming less sound at 11 months than at 3 months. Just as I started to complain in my heart, the Lord brought my gratitude challenge to my mind. What did I have to be thankful for in this situation? As I started to list the things about it that were blessings my outlook drastically changed. No, I was still just as tired in my body, but my mind was being renewed with each expression of thankfulness.
So, what was my gratitude challenge? It was really simple actually. My goal was to go to sleep with my last thoughts thankful & wake up with my first thoughts thankful. That is a super simple goal to set & not so easy to keep!
It is in our very nature to be un-thankful & complain when things don’t go exactly our way & I am no exception. But, I don’t want to be un-thankful! When I see it in my kids or someone else it immediately grates on my nerves. Do I really think the Lord doesn’t see mine the same way?
God didn’t list a set of circumstances that prevented our thankfulness, instead he just said “Be thankful!” It really makes it clear that its a choice, not just something that randomly happens.
I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m starting and that’s the only way to get there! How about you? Do you routinely complain or do you let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you? That’s my goal!
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