The Bible tells us of the importance of thankfulness, that we should always be thankful for what we have. But with the condition of things in the world, it can be hard to be thankful or to identify the pride that keeps us from being so. I think it's because of this that many people fall into a state where they compromise easily and can't do the good they want to do. I believe thankfulness is how we get out of such a state. Many of us have probably heard the saying "count your blessings", and I believe this is a solution. But if you listed everything you have in your life that is good, there would always be a handful of things that would stand out. So I think a good technique for anyone struggling to be thankful is to not try to count them all, but focus only on those things we're most thankful for.
I believe the purpose of thankfulness is to improve our actions. Like the saying suggests, being thankful does involve an examination of the things in our lives. But I think real thankfulness is known not in what we say with our mouths or in merely realizing the things we are fortunate to have, but in the changes in our actions. So I believe we'll know the things we are thankful for because these things will give us the power to change our actions.
In society, there's always someone telling you what you "should" and "shouldn't" like, how this is better than that. This can influence people, and have them pursuing things they don't need, for the sake of "bragging rights" and so on. But I think anything that we are thankful for and helps us improve our actions is good, no matter what it is. So as we examine our lives, we should find the things or thing that we can allow ourselves to satisfied with, even if no one else sees value in it, and let it be the root of our thankfulness.
We know temptation comes in all forms and we're all capable of performing vastly different feats because of our differences, but I believe the nature of temptation is the same and that none of us is good at resisting it. It says "You can have this in addition, if you do what you shouldn't do one more time", and "You can also have this, if you do what's wrong just a little bit longer". But I believe the things that we are thankful for are those which allow us to say, "No, I don't need what you offer because I have something good here, and I will allow it to satisfy me."
But I think the goal here is to find something that we can come back to, a source of thankfulness that we can reuse over and over.
At any step in one's Christian progress, there is often a concern about what will replace the sin that one gives up; it may seem one will have to find a new thing to appreciate in each new situation. But this isn't as much of a problem if one is thankful for something that stays the same.
For example, let's say a man has a car that, at one time, he was very thankful to have. But as the car got older and the man deals with life, other people's cars can start to look more and more appealing to him. An action is needed for him to be satisfied again. However, the solution is not necessarily going out and buying a new car: instead, he could give his current car a wash and polish it up a bit.
I believe it's through thankfulness that we can turn down the things we do that we shouldn't and also endure the pain that accompanies this, which we all are supposed to do (Acts 14:22, Philippians 1:29). And I think focusing only on that thing most important will go a long away towards staying thankful when one's life is changing.
I believe the purpose of thankfulness is to improve our actions. Like the saying suggests, being thankful does involve an examination of the things in our lives. But I think real thankfulness is known not in what we say with our mouths or in merely realizing the things we are fortunate to have, but in the changes in our actions. So I believe we'll know the things we are thankful for because these things will give us the power to change our actions.
In society, there's always someone telling you what you "should" and "shouldn't" like, how this is better than that. This can influence people, and have them pursuing things they don't need, for the sake of "bragging rights" and so on. But I think anything that we are thankful for and helps us improve our actions is good, no matter what it is. So as we examine our lives, we should find the things or thing that we can allow ourselves to satisfied with, even if no one else sees value in it, and let it be the root of our thankfulness.
We know temptation comes in all forms and we're all capable of performing vastly different feats because of our differences, but I believe the nature of temptation is the same and that none of us is good at resisting it. It says "You can have this in addition, if you do what you shouldn't do one more time", and "You can also have this, if you do what's wrong just a little bit longer". But I believe the things that we are thankful for are those which allow us to say, "No, I don't need what you offer because I have something good here, and I will allow it to satisfy me."
But I think the goal here is to find something that we can come back to, a source of thankfulness that we can reuse over and over.
At any step in one's Christian progress, there is often a concern about what will replace the sin that one gives up; it may seem one will have to find a new thing to appreciate in each new situation. But this isn't as much of a problem if one is thankful for something that stays the same.
For example, let's say a man has a car that, at one time, he was very thankful to have. But as the car got older and the man deals with life, other people's cars can start to look more and more appealing to him. An action is needed for him to be satisfied again. However, the solution is not necessarily going out and buying a new car: instead, he could give his current car a wash and polish it up a bit.
I believe it's through thankfulness that we can turn down the things we do that we shouldn't and also endure the pain that accompanies this, which we all are supposed to do (Acts 14:22, Philippians 1:29). And I think focusing only on that thing most important will go a long away towards staying thankful when one's life is changing.
