EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

My favorite gratitude quotes teach us that expressing gratitude to God is not only necessary but uplifting!

1 Chronicles 16:8
O give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name; Make known his doings among the peoples.

Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

A POEM ABOUT GRATITUDE

THE GIFT OF GRATITUDE

Perhaps the best gift that you can give to yourself
Is to have gratitude in your heart
When others complain that life is a strain
Remember a prayer of thanks is a better start

Say a prayer of thanks for the day ahead
The safe night that just has been
Be comforted that no matter what comes next
You will have victory in the end.

This poem about gratitude and hope that was shared with me by one of my visitors. If you have written inspirational or motivational poem, I would be happy to feature it here.

Perhaps since I grew up in a home that provided the bare essentials of life, expressing gratitude comes easily to me. When I see all of the blessings that surround me I am virtually amazed at the richness of my life but I am so thankful that I didn’t get so much early on that I am ungrateful. Today’s kids are being cheated by their parents because they have so much they don’t know how to be thankful.

As an example, a month or two ago I was in a clothing store that doesn’t carry designer clothes but stocks good clothes for an affordable price. I was behind a mother in line with an eight year old (or thereabouts) child. The sour, disgruntled attitude was pouring off the child because his mom had not taken him to a more exclusive store to buy his school uniforms. He was disrespectful, unpleasant and by no means did he have an attitude of gratitude. This child was by no means thankful or appreciative that his mother was spending her hard earned money on his needs rather than her own.

I can well remember getting excited about school starting in the fall because that meant that we would get new clothes and shoes. Once the clothes were bought, we were told which items were for everyday wear and which ones would be saved for church on Sunday and special occasions. I remember one of my sisters conveniently losing her everyday shoes once in hopes that she would be allowed to wear her best shoes to school one day. Mother, merely told her she would stay home from school to search until she found her school shoes. And in those days, staying home meant doing "special" work for mom if you weren’t sick and unable to get out of bed. Amazingly my sister located her missing loafers within the next few minutes.

Some might look at such an upbringing as being deprived and I suppose in some ways they are right. But what I see is a lesson in expressing gratitude. When you have done without and learned to make do you learn to be grateful for things that you might otherwise take for granted.

Take this opportunity to reflect on whether we fully appreciate gifts from our Heavenly Father. Are we grateful for His sacrifice of the greatest gift ever bestowed upon us – the gift of everlasting life? Are we thankful that we woke this morning in good health surrounded by His love? Do we feel the need to express our gratitude to Him who gave us the give of love, peace and grace?