“The ABC's of Gratitude”
November 21, 2010
Romans 1:8-25
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
A sinner is an ungrateful person. A sinner is an unaware person. A sinner is a self consumed person. I know that was so for me. My focus was on how ‘I’ felt; how ‘I’ was treated; how ‘I’ benefitted from something.
What a miserable way to live. And I was an unhappy, ungrateful person. I saw all I wanted – and didn’t have; not the blessings I did have. I was sensitive to how people treated me – not how I treated them or made them feel. I used people to bless me. I didn’t care about blessing them. Consequently, I was a miserable wretched human being. Only God (and Mom filled with God) could love me. Life is so very hard as a sinner. There is never enough – no matter how much you have or what you get. You are always hungry for more. You are always thirsting for something new, something exciting; something that will make life worth living – and you can’t find it in the world.
Sinners are often despondent and depressed and ungrateful – and many of them commit suicide. Many of them sink into drugs and alcohol. Many choose a hedonistic life style and use people sexually for personal gratification. Since none of these things can fulfill you – they keep trying different things, strange things, perverted things, abominable things to find that missing thing.
That was the case with these people in our Scripture. These were Roman people, in particular, Paul was talking about. They were known for denying themselves nothing. They were rich and powerful and could make happen just about anything they could dream up. So they indulged in every kind of sexual sin and sexual experience imaginable. Homosexuality was rampant among them. Men burned with lust for men. Women burned with lust for women. Their affections were unnatural and perverted. Someone said: "Sin will always take you farther than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you intended to pay."
Proverbs 15:13 says that the way of the transgressor is hard – and it really is. It SEEMS exciting and fun – but the pain always outweighs whatever pleasure there may be in a sinful act.
Sin is defined as willfully rebelling against God’s known will, but the nature of sin is selfishness. It’s all about ‘ME’. My little universe revolves around me. I am the star – everyone else is the bit players who meet my needs and give me praise and glory.
Sin doesn’t always manifest itself in exalting the individual. Sometimes a sinner is vain and prideful and arrogant. Sometimes a sinner has a superiority complex and exalts himself about all others. He thinks he is the biggest, the best, the brightest, and most beautiful. But often the selfish sinner experiences the reverse. He thinks he is the ugliest, the dumbest, the weakest. He often has low self-esteem and an inferiority complex. But the core is the same. ME! It’s all about me, me, ME! “Nobody understands me. Nobody treats me the way I should be treated. Life has short-changed me. Look at me! I am so pitiful.”
Do you see it’s all selfishness? And the individual is ungrateful, thankless, and unappreciative because his focus is all on himself. Contrast that with Paul who begins this letter with thanksgiving. He is thankful for the people he is writing to. He feels a sense of obligation to Jews and Greeks, in other words, he is thankful for them. He isn’t ashamed of the Gospel. He is so positive about things.
Contrast that with these sinful people he is writing about. He says,
” For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Romans 1:21
Did you catch that these people were Christians at one time? “They KNEW God.” These were not ignorant savages. These were not darkened heathens. These were not pagans – they KNEW God. Where did they go wrong? They didn’t glorify God. They didn’t give Him thanks for what they had. The result was their thinking became flawed and weak. Their hearts became darkened. They become worthy of death – physically, spiritually and eternally. This is the result of ingratitude.
I want to be grateful, don’t you? I want to be appreciative of what God has given me. And God wants us to be grateful, too. He says,
“speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thess. 5:16-18
Do you see that the Christian is to be a happy, thankful, positive person? We are to sing songs and rejoice in everything! We can always find the thing that is wrong. We can always see things that could be better. We can always find the negative. That is our fallen human natures instinct. But God wants us to change. It is God’s will that you learn how to give thanks in ALL circumstances. You can only do that is you have faith in Romans 8:28 that says,
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
The next verse says, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son...” Romans 8:28
Was Jesus thankful? Check it out. In Matthew 14 and 15 we see Jesus giving thanks in two different events to God for the loaves and fish they were about to eat. In Matthew 26 we see Him giving thanks for the bread and wine of the communion meal. If we are being transformed into His image – we are becoming more thankful than we already are.
This thanksgiving, I want to share with you my A B C’ S of the attitude of gratitude.
First is to be AWARE. Our focus need to get off of what we DON’T HAVE and onto what we DO have. I remember as a new Christian God convicted me of my selfishness and ingratitude through the song, “Count Your Blessings”. Do you remember that old hymn. It goes, “Count your blessings. Name them one by one.” So I got a piece of paper and a pencil and number a column 1 through 10, then I began to count my blessings. I have to confess that I was so self-centered, so focused on my lack and my need that I had a hard time counting my blessings. It’s a whole lot easier now. I thank God for a warm home and a hot shower and for experiencing a lack of that when I was growing up. I thank God for a bathroom instead of an outhouse we had for a while when I was a kid. I thank God daily for my wonderful family and their love. I remember when I thought I would never have that. I remember when I didn’t have one friend. I am so thankful for each one of you now. I am thankful for spiritual blessings, and silly little things like my ol’ dog Jean, who died last year. She gave me some good times hiking in the mountains. I thank God for her. I could go on and on, but I can tell you – I don’t have any problem finding things to thank God for now. Whether they are positive or negative – even the past pain in life – I thank God for. He can make something beautiful out of the worst experience of our lives – if we allow Him to. Be aware of the multitude of God’s blessing all around us.
Secondly, BLESS the source of your blessings. Of course, that starts with blessing God. Pray often throughout the day to lift up your praise to Him. We are quick to pray for needs and wants and desires. Forget that for awhile. Pray to thank God for the sunset and flowers and friends. Thank Him for salvation and our eternal home in heaven. Bless God for His kindness and mercy to you. We are instructed by God’s Word to pray continually. I think most of that prayer ought to be prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving.
Don’t forget to bless those people around you who bless you so much. The more they bless us – the more likely we take them for granted. Bless your wife or husband – it might blow them away! Bless your kids for the love they bring into your life. Verbalize these blessings. Flowers and cards are good – but there is no duplication for looking someone in the eyes and expressing appreciation for them. I don’t know about you – but I don’t do it enough. Bless the blesser.
Thirdly, CARE. Sin deadens us and hardens us. We think “I don’t care what people think. I don’t care what my family thinks. I don’t even care what God thinks. I don’t care!” We need to care. Our actions affect others. C. S. Lewis likened society to a fleet of ships sailing across the oceans. If one or two of them decide that are not going to go the way everyone else is going – they are going to do their own thing – it hinders the entire fleet. Ships run into each others – they cause damage to each other – even destroy each other.
Society is similar. Our actions affect those around us. Our choices influence our families and those who love us most. We need to care what they think. We need to especially care what God thinks of our choices. God loves us more than anyone in the world. What we do either grieves Him or blesses Him. I want to be a sweet smelling fragrance to God. I want to cause Him joy – not sorrow. We need to care.
Lastly, we need to SHARE. We need to share our gratitude with others. Do you say, “Thank you” enough? Most of us don’t. When someone blesses you – share your gratitude with them. When is the last time you looked your mate in the eye and thanked them for loving you and putting up with you? When is the last time you took your child or grandchild and looked them in the eye and told them how thankful you were for them? Probably not enough. Share your thankfulness with those around you. I promise you – life will be so much better if you do.
Most importantly, we need to thank God. We need to share our gratitude with the Father. Jesus did. He thanked God for the simple things in life. How much more important is it for us to thank God daily and throughout the day for blessings. The reason the people Paul was talking about in our Scripture became perverted and sinful was, “Although they KNEW God, they didn’t glorify Him or THANK Him.”
Let’s give God glory this thanksgiving. Let’s overwhelm Him with our gratitude. Let praises gush from our hearts. Those are the ABC’S of Thanksgiving. 1. Be AWARE of the blessings. Don’t take them for granted.
2. BLESS those who bless you. 3. CARE about what God and others think of your actions. And, 4. SHARE your gratitude with others.
This will keep you in God’s blessing.
SONG: “Give Thanks”
