"Thieves Of Thankfulness”

“ In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” -1 Thessalonians 5:18

I have observed that one of the particular temptations for Christians is the danger of getting accustomed to God's blessings. We are in danger of taking his or her blessings for granted and getting so accustomed to them that we fail already to excite us. We have grown accustomed to our blessings. The result is that too many Christians have become thankless Christians. Just like in the days of the Israelites when they crossed the Red Sea and reached the other side that they forgot the goodness of God when He saved them from the pursuing Egyptians, There, too, the whole community of Israel complained about Moses and Aaron. “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.” (Exodus 16:2-3NLT) Blessings upon blessings but in return... complaining after complaining, self conceited people, care’less’ and care’full’ population they were. Thankless Nation. Is there anything new to us too? Same attitude, same mindset... And so, I believe there are at least four attitudes that steals away our gratitude and keep us from being thankful. I call them the Thieves of Thanksgiving.

I- CONCEITED SPIRIT:

“Too much pride will destroy you.”Proverbs 16:18 CEV

Or spirit of pride. Proud people don't say thanks. Proud people don't need grace. They don't think their hearts are empty without God. They are filled with their own wisdom! Claiming to be wise, they exchange the glory of the immortal God for something other than God. It is a deceptive and dangerous sin. Pride’s ultimate goal is to preserve self, to protect self, and to promote self. It may take many different forms, but ultimately it must preserve, protect, and promote self. It is then robbing God of the glory that belongs solely to Him and to Him alone. Pride was birthed with original sin when Lucifer attempted to ascribe glory to himself that was God’s alone. And pride continues to be the great separation between God and man today.

I just read it at moreillustrations.com that Our Lord Jesus Christ destroyed pride and is worthwhile here to repost it and share it to you through this sermon:

The life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ are a standing rebuke to every form of pride to which men are liable.

Pride of birth and rank—'Is not this the carpenter's son?'

Matt. 13:55

Pride of wealth—‘The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.’ Luke9:58

Pride of respectability— ‘Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' John 1:46

Pride of personal appearance—'He hath no form nor comeliness.'

Isa. 53:2

Pride of reputation— ‘A friend of publicans and sinners.' Luke 7:34

Pride of learning—'How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?' John 7:15

Pride of superiority—`I am among you as he that serveth.' Luke 22:27

Pride of success—'He is despised and rejected of men.' Isa. 53:3

Pride of ability—`I can of Mine own self do nothing.' John 5:30

Pride of self-will—`I seek not Mine own will but the will of Him that sent Me’ John 5:30

Pride of intellect—'As My Father hath taught Me, I speak.' John 8:28.

Pride has been classified into a few categories:

Pride of face, pride of race, pride of place, pride of pace, pride of grace.

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves."

—American writer Henry Ward Beecher

How do you arrest the thief of conceit? Get the police of Humility!

II- CRITICAL SPIRIT:

1 Corinthians 10:8-11

“Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day (Nu 25:1-9, second generation Israelites, tempted by women from Moab and Midian, fell into immorality. Twenty-four thousand died in one day. God disciplined them through a plague that did not stop until Aaron’s grandson Phinehas speared a couple engaged in fornication. The Corinthians committed the same sin (5:1-5, 10-11; 6:9-10, 12-20). Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.”)

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

another attitude that keeps us from being thankful is constant complaining, grumbling. Instead of being grateful, this person will always find something to complain about. These are the 10 spies of Israel sent to Canaan! These people are the Judases when a woman anointed Jesus of a very costly perfume. Their mouth is full of negativity and criticism.