LET GRATITUDE BE YOUR ATTITUDE
I Thess. 5:18
Gratitude is a state of being grateful i.e. being appreciative and thankful while attitude refers to one’s disposition or state of mind. It reflects a man’s mindset and the way of thinking of a person. The Bible tells us in Philippians 2:5 that we should “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…….”
We are by this passage of the scriptures being encouraged to think the way Jesus Christ our perfect example of faith would think. When we begin to x-ray the kind of mind that Jesus Christ had, we would discover that apart from having a mind full of compassion (so many passages of the Bible attest to this), he had a proper estimation of who he was (Philip. 2: 6), He had a heart of humility which made him obedient to the fulfilment of his mission on earth; and above all, he was always giving thanks to the Father in whatever he did. He was full of gratitude to God showing us the perfect example of the way we ought to live our lives.
When he wanted to raise Lazarus from the dead in John 11: 41, it was recorded that he first of all lifted up his eyes and said “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me”. Even though the situation or condition like the natural man would term it was not a palatable one, He still came from the angle of faith, thanking God that he had heard him not that he ‘would’ hear him. In some other passages of the scriptures where situations and circumstances, humanly speaking, look difficult and impossible, Jesus Christ broke the barriers by giving thanks to God; ref. Matt. 15:36, Matt. 26:27, Mark 8:6, Mark 11:23, Luke 22:19, Acts 27:35.
Let us desist from murmuring and complaining. This attracts God’s anger (Rm. 1:18,21). When we learn to give thanks and praises to God, He becomes delighted in us and the little in our hands, He will multiply it and we would abound in all sufficiency. (2Cor. 9 :8)
Memory verse: Psalm 100: 4.
