Title: Gratitude for Grace
Contents
It was introduced in the American weekly National Enquirer. There seems to be a beauty contest called "Mrs. America" in America. It is said to be a contest for housewives living a happy family life. It is said that a man named Scott invited his wife, who has two children, to compete in this competition. He said that he made 'Mrs. America' by spending $100,000 (120 million won) for plastic surgery on his eyes, nose, teeth, and breasts to give his wife the "Crown of Mrs. America".
However, when the wife forgot all the grace of her husband who did the best for her and took on the crown of Mrs. America, she remarried Rick Chance, a millionaire businessman, and moved to a luxury home worth $1.5 million. The article was that poor Mr. Scott was completely bankrupt. I wrote this at the end of the article. "Husbands of the world, shouldn't we give up on the vain dream of only wishing that our wives are beautiful?"
There is a saying in our language called ungratefulness. It means forgetting the grace of others and throwing them away. There is a saying in our saying, “Grace is engraved in water, and enemies in stone”. It means that people forget grace so easily. That's why our God has made and kept the Thanksgiving Day like this so that we don't forget God's grace. They were to keep the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Speaking of today, we made it possible to remember God's grace by keeping Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, and Thanksgiving Day. Today is Thanksgiving. It is a season when we harvest food and give thanks.
I know how to live a life of gratitude all the time, but I hope that thanksgiving will be a time to thank God for His grace once again. Today's 1 Timothy is a letter from the apostle Saul to Timothy, who he thought like a son after being released from prison. Now Paul has a very difficult life because he had just been released from prison. There isn't a single home where you can stay out of jail. He didn't have anyone special to welcome him, and he didn't have a family to warmly comfort him. Still, Paul is grateful. Let us read verse 12 one more time. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he has counted me faithful, and has entrusted me with the ministry.”
What do you have to thank Jesus for right now? Because of Jesus, I was imprisoned and I am suffering because of Jesus. But Paul confesses that he is thankful for Jesus. What are you grateful for?
1. We should become people who interpret past events as gratitude, not as complaints. (12)
But what do you think of that position? Paul is thankful for entrusting me with the office.(12) I am grateful to the Christ who regarded me as faithful and gave me the office, and to the Christ who made me able to overcome the difficulties and sufferings. Because of that position, he was sometimes beaten by his fellow countrymen, threatened with death by storms, criticized for not preaching, misunderstood for teaching wrong things, and suffered a truly unheard of injustice as a dual personality. is to do You should be a person who interprets the past with gratitude. No matter what happens, you have to interpret it as gratitude for progress and hope.
There are three types of gratitude.
① Relative appreciation. It is a feeling of gratitude compared to others. Thank you for being richer, more handsome, and more successful and earning more money. Physiological gratitude. It is animalistic gratitude and selfish gratitude. Even those who do not believe can be thankful.
② It is an audit of the interpretation of the results. Thinking about what has been done and giving thanks. Philosophical appreciation. It's like watching your parents beat you with a rod and being grateful. I am thankful for how much my parents love me and will beat me. Thank you like Han Seok-bong. In fact, if you think about it, everything inevitably comes with gratitude. If you change the perspective of interpretation, you can thank rather than complain about everything. the noblest thanks
③ Absolute gratitude. Spiritual gratitude. In spite of the misfortunes of the past and the pains of the present, because God freed us from slavery and gained life from the place of death, we are thankful to see it. I think of it as a life lived as a bonus. Therefore, even if you are poor, even if the crops are not working well, even if the harvest season comes and the flood comes, you should be thankful. You can live a life of gratitude to the judges. Paul did. Peter did. I was thankful even if I went to prison, got sick, or beaten. Daniel's thanks, Jonah's thanks, and Habakkuk's thanks are such thanks. Accepting everything as an experience of gratitude.
It is interpreted as a process of training for maturity.