When Debbie and I were first married in 1988, we sat down and had a conversation about the five most important things that we wanted to impart to our children. Four years later came our firstborn son, Greg. It was 1992 and we set out to teach our son these five most important things. The first was the utter necessity of faith in the God of the Bible. You will notice that my previous post, entitled Faith, addresses to some degree the first most important thing that we teach our children.
Today, I am attempting to address the second of these things that Debbie and I concluded were most important to teach our children. It seems to me that gratitude is one of the most important things to God. I find it quite instructive that "Judah" means "to give thanks". Gratitude is so important to the disposition of faith. Gratitude and Faith are two voices that have a conversation in one’s soul. Faith anticipates God's grace and gratitude gives thanks for it. The word “thanks” appears over 150 times just in the Old Testament and 71 times in the New. Gratitude is a learned characteristic. The Psalmist urges us to “offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,” “and
perform your vows to the Most High” (Psalm 50:14). “Oh give thanks to
the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples”
(105:1). The Psalms are filled with exhortations to “thank the Lord for
his never-ending love, for his wondrous works to the children of man”
(107:8).
I say that gratitude is a learned characteristic. Let me illustrate. One night I was praying with my then four year old son. He began to pray, "Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank you for my Braves pennant, and my Georgia poster..." At that point I opened my eyes and the Lord spoke to me through my grateful son. I notice that this four year old was looking around his room for the different items to thank the Father for. Gratitude is like that, you must look for things to be grateful for, even things that you do not necessarily want. In fact, I heard my little boy that night give thanks for his broken toy. It was at that point that God spoke. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we read, "
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." Let me encourage you today to look for opportunities to enjoy the marriage of faith and gratitude. You will discover that choosing to be grateful, you will find yourself shunning the temptation to grumble and complain.
