We’re all rebels. As C.S. Lewis once wrote, “We are not merely imperfect creatures who must be improved: we are … rebels who must lay down our arms.”

“By nature, nurture, and choice, you’re a rebel. That’s what you are. But by grace [and through Christ] you can have a different legacy and a better future” (Michael Lawrence).

The point I want to make is that gratitude is first and foremost a matter of the heart. It’s not about what we do or don’t do.

It is the heart that must be changed.

After all, we may do many good deeds and yet do them grudgingly. Forced and grumbling, we muster up our rebel hearts and do something out of a sense of duty, or in order to win God’s favor as if mercy is earned and not given!

When we are not thankful for what we have received, we open the door to every other sin imaginable. We shut down, stop listening to the warning sounds from others about our pride and “rebel pushback” attitude. And then, it catches us with us!

We hurt those who try to help or warn us. We hit back with smugness or condescending “tolerance” or we rage like a flame thrower. Our self-focused pursuit of what we feel we deserve and are destined for leaves no room for others to fit into the plan. That… Is a rebel that wounds.

We are all unthankful and rather rebellious by nature because we all take for granted the goodness of the Lord. We think God owes us something when in fact he owes us nothing at all.

I have learned and am learning that gratitude is a gift first and foremost, a matter of the heart, and it flows down to us, dropping like the gentle rain from heaven. In fact, mercy and gratitude always go together. What starts as mercy in heaven ends as gratitude on earth.

I wish to give thanks to God for showing us the true state of our own hearts. I pray we become more grateful for all his gifts. And I humbly ask the Lord to give me a grateful heart for all his blessings — seen and unseen, that I might take nothing for granted, and to open the eyes of my heart to appreciate…

“…All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all,” by Cecil Frances Alexander.

~ Mary Lindow ^©

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” THE MESSENGER ” ~ Mary Lindow
www.marylindow.com
Global Prayer Rooms

Mary Lindow has a passion for encouraging others in all generations and careers or vocations to live and express excellence through personal integrity, healthy accountability, and wise management of talents and skills. She is a sought after keynote inspirational and humorous speaker and teacher throughout the United States internationally in Ministers conferences, International Spiritual leaders Conferences, and in National and International training seminars for various organizations.