Gratitude
Notes
Transcript
Last week we started a new series called “Stay Positive” and we talked about optimism. Being optimistic is an important part of having a positive outlook on life. Optimism is a state of mind, not the state of your circumstances. Today we are going to talk about gratitude. Being grateful. Does anyone feel pretty thankful or grateful? Like gratitude just comes kinda natural to you? If not, are you at least optimistic that you can be more grateful?
By nature, I’m not very grateful. When it comes to staying positive, gratitude is probably my biggest struggle. Pretty much every day I come home and complain to Amy about something, the weather, a customer, an injury, a bill, a responsibility. I’ll throw a bunch of verbal garbage her direction and then say, “Sorry, I just needed to vent.” I’ll complain until I realize how negative I sound, then I’ll try to turn it around by saying, “but it’s no big deal.”
The weather is too hot today, but yesterday it was 5 degrees cooler and it was too cold. It’s either too dry or it’s too rainy. Have you ever stood in the kitchen staring into the pantry and cans of food and thought, “I have nothing to eat.” Or turned on the TV, scrolled through a hundred channels or past hundreds of movies and TV shows on the Roku or Amazon and said, “There is nothing to watch.” Or rifled through your closet, touched all of your clothes, and concluded, “I have nothing to wear.”
My favorite is going out to eat. You don’t have to dirty any dishes, cook anything, or even hunt and grow what you eat. You sit down at a table someone else has apparently cleaned the mail and coats off of, then they bring you something to drink. Someone in the back is working on your food while you pick from a list of what you want. Then they bring it out to you and set it in front of you. When you are done they are even going to clean the dishes for you. You can just walk away from that messy table! After all of that, have you ever got your food and then thought, “Hmm… I really wanted something different.”
“This isn’t cooked right… I asked for extra bacon… This looks burned…” My favorite is, “Something isn’t right with this. I don’t know what it is, but there is something off about it.” I’ve never done that, but Amy does it all the time. Come on Chad, someone just did all that work for you and you didn’t have to do anything, but now you are complaining about something and you don’t even know what you are complaining about!
Have you ever thought about some of the things you complain about? More than just a passing thought like, “I hate spinach.” Have you ever asked yourself why you are upset about something, or why you feel compelled to tell someone or post it on Facebook?
Yesterday I took my truck to get the oil changed and the tires rotated. The tire shop was slammed. Everyone that was working there was working very hard and getting people in and out as fast as possible, but it still took about an hour to finish with my truck. After an hour I started writing a text to Amy complaining about how long it was taking. I was about to send it when today’s message started playing in my head.
Sure, it’s taking longer than normal, but that’s not their fault. Regardless, why am I complaining to Amy? She is going about her day doing her thing, why contact her just to be negative? As I was having this debate with myself they announced that my truck was ready.
Something that would have taken me several hours to do, some of which I don’t even have the tools for, I simply paid someone to do for me. What was there to complain about? I didn’t get greasy. I didn’t smash a finger. I didn’t have to go pick out and buy oil or try to patch the slow leak in my tire.
By nature, I’m not very grateful. I always want MORE. I want BETTER. I want it NOW. Is anyone else like that? Is anyone else willing to admit it? Is anyone else tired of being negative and complaining? I’ve got complaining down to an art, but I am tired of being so negative. I am ready to develop a heart of gratitude. If you want to be positive and develop a grateful heart, you should know that it probably isn’t going to be easy.
By nature, we are not very grateful creatures. According to one interaction Jesus had with a group of lepers, we are unlikely to be grateful by a factor of 9 to 1.
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
Pause there for a second and think about these 10 guys. What they had to endure every day makes waiting at the tire shop seem silly. These men had to live with a skin disease that was eating away at their flesh. Every day they woke up to oozing sores and possibly missing fingers. It could damage their skin, nerves, eyes, and could affect their breathing.
For a Jewish person, that wasn’t even the worst part. As if their visible condition wasn’t humiliating enough, according to Leviticus 13, they had to tear their clothes, leave their hair messy, cover their mouths, and shout “Unclean” to people who came near. Today, some people spend hours in front of the mirror to make sure every hair is in it’s place, can you imagine how horrible that life could be? Can you imagine how alone these men may have felt?
But now, here comes Jesus. He can help! Oh how good it could be to not have this miserable condition any longer. How grateful would you be if Jesus could just take the pain away?
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. 15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
Choosing gratitude is tougher than it seems it should be. Choosing a grateful heart over an entitled heart takes commitment and effort. Today we are going to look at three statements that will help us choose to be grateful. When I work real hard and I don’t feel like what I have is quite good enough, the first thing I need to remember is that every good thing I have comes from God…
I KNOW EVERY GOOD THING I HAVE COMES FROM GOD.
I KNOW EVERY GOOD THING I HAVE COMES FROM GOD.
God is a giver of good things. Anything good we have comes from God.
17 Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
You may be tempted to say, “Well, I went out and worked hard for that. I earned it. It’s my work history on my resume that got me this job. It’s my overtime that bought this thing. It’s my sacrifice that made this happen.” Who gave you the abilities you have? Who gave you the natural skills or the opportunities to learn and grow? Every good thing we have comes from God.
God gave Noah a plan for the ark and the ability to build, giving him the opportunity to save his family.
God gave the Israelites bread from heaven in the morning and fire by night.
God gave David a stone to kill Goliath.
God gave Jonah a fish that swallowed him and took him ashore after he was thrown into the sea.
God gave the Virgin Mary the faith to obey and give birth to Jesus.
God gave the Wise men a star to lead them.
God gave the world a savior.
God gives you a peace that passes understanding; the Holy Spirit to convict, strengthen, and encourage; His Word to guide you.
God is always good. He is unchangeably good. He is completely good. He will never not be good. He could never be less than good. Everything our God does is good. Even Jesus said, “Only God is truly good.”
When you are fired up and ready to complain, remember the good that you have and remember that every good thing you have comes from God. Then, don’t let what you want rob you of what you have…
I WILL NOT LET WHAT I WANT ROB ME OF WHAT I HAVE.
I WILL NOT LET WHAT I WANT ROB ME OF WHAT I HAVE.
The grass isn’t greener on the other side of the fence. Or maybe your grass is less green because you trample over it in order to look at the grass on the other side. Gratitude appreciates your grass. Gratitude turns what we have into enough. It’s not happy people who are grateful, it’s grateful people who are happy.
9 Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
We can be grateful for the food on our table, the clothes on our backs, a bed to lay in, our job, our health, our friends. In many parts of the world there is a legitimate danger to be a Christian, but here we can worship freely. Here we have so many freedoms that it is easy to forget that Christ is enough. He is all we really need. This is what Paul told the Philippians that he had learned…
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Gratitude turns what we have into enough. Every good thing I have comes from God. I will not let what I want rob me of what I have…
I’ll TURN EVERY BLESSING INTO PRAISE.
I’ll TURN EVERY BLESSING INTO PRAISE.
Every blessing that I don’t turn back to praise turns to pride. It turns into something I think I deserve or I have earned.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
If you are like me and struggle with complaining, something I try to do that is very helpful to turn complaints into praise is just add “but thankfully” to the end of your complaint.
“I’m tired of airing up this tire every weekend, but thankfully I don’t need to buy a new tire. I had to buy a new tire, but thankfully I didn’t have to buy all four. I had to buy four tires, but thankfully the truck still starts.”
The food at this restaurant is gross, but thankfully we got to take a bread from KP and didn’t have to cook or clean!
This house is too small, but thankfully we have a roof over our heads and a warm place to be in the winter.
The kids are always keeping me busy, but thankfully they are also probably keeping me healthy!
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!
I KNOW EVERY GOOD THING I HAVE COMES FROM GOD.
I WILL NOT LET WHAT I WANT ROB ME OF WHAT I HAVE.
I’LL TURN EVERY BLESSING I HAVE INTO PRAISE.