Make a decision that no matter what your circumstances may be, you will give thanks to the LORD anyway. Do it every day, indeed several times every day. Train yourself to give thanks. Set out to make it your habit. The more often you do …
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Thankfulness is primarily a decision, not a feeling
We often make the mistake of waiting until we feel like giving thanks before we do so. However, it doesn’t work that way. Thanks are due to God whether we feel like it or not. We are to express our thanks as a decision of our …
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Thankfulness and praise enable us to become closer to God and to gain access to Him
See how the Psalmist expresses this thought in this well-known verse: 4Enter His gates with thanksgivingAnd His courts with praise.Give thanks to Him, bless His name. Psalm 100:4 (NASB) The above verse contains an important clue as to how to get into God’s presence. The …
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Thankfulness needs to be expressed out loud, not just in thought
You might convince yourself that you are a thankful person deep down, and that you feel thankful even if you don’t express it. But that won’t do. What really counts is what you say, not what you think, or believe you think. The way God has …
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Thankfulness opens our eyes to see the world more accurately and in proper perspective
God tells us repeatedly to be thankful. When we are it has the effect of opening our own eyes. It enables us to see the world more realistically. It puts our circumstances into perspective and corrects the way we see God and the people around …
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God is never to blame for anything and He is never unjust. Therefore, whatever happens, you can never validly complain about Him
When we complain and grumble we can get to the point where we are actually blaming or accusing God for things. We might not say it out loud, but that could be what we are really thinking. Whenever we do that we are deluded. God …
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Complaining indicates that your sinful flesh nature is alive and well and has not been crucified.
When niggling little problems get under our skin and cause us to complain, they demonstrate that our sinful flesh nature hasn’t been properly crucified yet. That’s not a good sign. But there is at least this one advantage in being exposed to aggravating little problems. …
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Complaining and resenting will cause your personality or character to become sour
If you complain habitually and tend to resent people then your very nature will become sour over time. The effect is very marked. The person becomes like sour milk. It affects them to their core, and a sense of grievance overtakes them. For example, I …
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The corrosive effect of grumbling and complaining
Ingratitude doesn’t stay silent for long. It inevitably turns into grumbling out loud, which is an even worse problem. It has a corrosive and poisonous effect on everybody. It harms the person complaining. Plus it undermines those who listen to it, and especially those who …
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Ingratitude is the norm. Gratitude is the exception
We are selfish due to our sinful, flesh nature. Therefore the norm is for us to be ungrateful. Gratitude is exceptional. We have all experienced ingratitude from others and we don’t like it. Yet we also know we have all been guilty of it ourselves. …
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