In the 1960’s, when I was a young child, I went to the grocery store with my mother one day. After the cashier totaled our items, my mother sighed and complained that two large bags of groceries cost $20.
As a child, I didn’t fully understand money. But that day, watching the cashier ring up each item and slide it into the carousel, I noticed something beyond the $20 price. Instead, I was amazed by how much food we got to take home — food we didn’t have to grow ourselves but still got to enjoy.
My mother, however, was so focused on the cost that she couldn’t see the blessings those items brought to our family.
Our ungrateful society
We lived on a farm and grew much of our own food in a large vegetable garden. At different times we also raised cattle, pigs, and chickens. That day at the store, it was incredible to see fruits grown far from our region, cakes we didn’t have to bake, and packaged foods already prepared and ready to eat. All we had to do was load them in the car and drive home. An overwhelming sense of gratitude filled my heart.
Gratitude matters
I’ll admit, I’m not always that grateful. Like most people, I know gratitude matters, yet it is so easy to focus on what we lack instead of the abundance we already enjoy.
And I’m not alone. Spend just thirty minutes on social media and you’ll see just how ungrateful we’ve become as a society. Ingratitude is a struggle for all of us. After all, an entire marketing industry exists to make sure we never feel content. Its purpose is to keep us uncomfortable, unsatisfied and constantly wanting more.
The struggle is real. The scriptures even warn that in the last days people would live ungrateful lives. (2 Timothy 3:2) These verses go on to list ungratefulness with other traits the Lord despises including pride, abuse and unforgiveness.
The entitled mentality
We live in a society that seems to grow more entitled with each passing year. Every day we hear people complain that someone else has more money, more opportunities, or more advantages than they do. They believe they should have the same. Yet they rarely acknowledge the sacrifices that person may have made to achieve that level of success or comfort. As a result, people are becoming increasingly more hostile toward anyone who has what they lack themselves.
Seeing life through a different lens
It’s natural to focus on the problem instead of the blessing. A perfect example is the magnolia tree in my backyard. The last ice storm tore a large section out of the side of its side. And now every time I look at it, my eyes go straight to that gaping hole. It takes much more effort to notice the beautiful white blooms and deep green leaves that still cover the rest of the tree.
Gratitude changes everything
We don’t have to live as ungrateful people. God wouldn’t command us to practice gratitude if it was impossible — even in a materialistic culture like ours. Gratitude brings blessings to our lives. It nurtures contentment and joy and helps us recognize even more if the good things we already enjoy.
Think about a time when you did something really nice for someone and they brushed it off as if it were nothing. Their lack of appreciation probably made you hesitant to do anything for them again.
I imagine our heavenly Father feels that way about us at times. We often take his blessings for granted and fail to acknowledge them as gifts from His hand. It makes me wonder how much our ingratitude has cost us. Does the Father withhold certain blessings until we learn to be truly grateful for what we already have?
There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way. – Jim Rohn
Bringing it home
I’ve noticed that when I choose an attitude of gratitude, I’m far more content and joyful — even when my circumstances haven’t changed at all.
If you have never tried shifting your mindset from worry or envy to thankfulness right in the middle of your anxiety, I encourage you to try it. You may be surprised by how quickly your mood begins to lift.
In the posts that follow, we’ll explore how gratitude not only pleases the Lord but also brings contentment, joy, and a deeper sense of happiness to our lives. We’ll look at the many positive qualities gratitude cultivates, especially when compared to the heaviness of worry, resentment and envy.
I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 5:20
