Thankfulness. No, it's not Thanksgiving. It's today. Today is the perfect day to think about what we're thankful for (and so will tomorrow). In a book, I read recently, there was a character that each night, before he went to bed, he listed off the things he was thankful for. Why don't we do that?
Sometimes I think we get caught up in the things we don't have. You go shopping, see all these cute clothes, and start thinking about your own wardrobe. You start thinking that in your closet YOU HAVE NOTHING cute. Well besides your two favorites tops- but you wear those ALL THE TIME. You NEED to get a new top or maybe just a new pair of pants. Maybe the maroon ones you see over there on the clearance rack. Just like that you can get sucked into thinking that you don't have enough. I'm not saying shopping is bad or seeing something on the clearance rack and buying it is bad. I'm saying that if you start getting discontent with the clothes, car, house, hair (etc.) that God has given you- you're going down a slippery slope.
Discontentment can come in various ways. We can become discontent with our features/body, our house, clothes, friends, and family. We can become discontent with almost anything.
So how do we stop being discontent and start becoming more thankful? Yes, you can list off things your thankful for. Which can help if you take time to think about it. You see a few years ago, I would list off things that I'm thankful for without thinking much about them. Yes, I'm thankful for my house, my family, my friends, my french horn, and my dogs, but what if you had one of those taken away? Over the past year, I lost some things that I used to say I was thankful for- now looking back I realize how discontent I was and how I didn't appreciate what I had. As I say that I try not to be discontent because as I look back I could say "well now I don't have that so now I can be discontent" which is absolutely not true! God has still given me so much more than I deserve. He has provided for me and I can never thank Him enough.
Another reason we should be thankful (especially this week of all weeks) is because this Sunday is Easter. Easter. Where we celebrate Jesus Christ dying and rising from the dead. That's another thing we can be thankful for- Salvation. We take this for granted so many times. Without Christ, we would be nothing- just dust on the Earth.
Now, make your list of what your thankful for then go down it asking yourself with each one- what if I didn't have this?
Let's list some things most of us if not all of us can be thankful for:
-a house/home/shelter
-family
-friends (hopefully good Christian friends)
-food (delicious food like ice cream!)
-a job (whether you like it or not)
-a school/education (yes this is something you can be thankful for)
-your hair, your eyes, your nose, your ears (all your features)
-salvation (if you believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again then you should be thankful for your salvation)
That's just a general list but you can even go more specific by naming off specific people that have made an impact on you and who your thankful for.
After you write down everything that your thankful for, thank God for each person/thing on your list. He has given you all those things!
As you think about thankfulness and being thankful here are a few verses that talk about thankfulness:
1 Chronicles 16:34
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever"
1 Thessalonians 5: 18
"Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (Notice how it says "all circumstances" that means no matter what we have)
Ephesians 2:8
"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is a gift from God,"
Psalm 9:1
"I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds."
ONE MORE THING! before I finish I just wanted to say, today is my blog's one year birthday. I created my blog one year ago today! Can you believe it? I am so thankful for all the people that have supported me and read my posts- thank you!
Paige Ward
-The Designer