Title: Thank you for being able to love
thanks for being able to love
Text: Colossians 4:2
“Keep on praying and keep watch in prayer with thanksgiving”
Not long ago, there was a story about an ordinary woman named Seong Jeong-sik in the newspaper. She nursed her husband who was hospitalized at Jeonju Jesus Hospital for 6 years. For six years, I devotedly cared for my husband, who was speechless, blind, unconscious and completely vegetative.
It is said that when they were married for 5 years, her husband was hit by a motorcycle while jogging and became a vegetative person. She sent her four-year-old daughter and her new-born son to her parents' home, and from then on she took care of her husband. She did not leave her husband's side for even a moment. Even at night, I woke up every two hours, turned over and laid him down again. A patient who has been lying down for a long time develops pressure sores after 1 year, and this person said that it was okay to lie down for 6 years. She changed her clothes frequently and changed her husband's diaper, who couldn't even urinate. My husband stayed in bed for 6 years without saying a word and without opening his eyes.
Medically, there is no 0.1% chance of recovery, so I told him to give up, but my wife did not give up. He is always grateful and never complained. Had I complained, I would have given up on my husband sooner. I prayed to God every morning. I prayed that my husband would not die. As long as my husband was alive, I could live with gratitude for the rest of my life. So, it is said that she kissed her husband, who was lying dead, dozens of times a day.
However, after six years, this husband opened his eyes, regained consciousness and began to move. A miracle happened. As this incident was reported in the media, the first lady sent a congratulatory message and the whole country went into an uproar. Surprisingly, when I asked my wife if she was worried about the cost of hospitalization over 200 million won, she said that I was in good health and my husband woke up. It is indescribably grateful that my husband just happened.
That's right. You should be grateful for anything. After caring for a vegetative person for 6 years, they are so happy. Why are there so many complaints while living with a healthy husband? Don't complain. Love and buy with a grateful heart.
“May we give thanks to the Father, who made us worthy to receive the part of the inheritance of the saints in the light, who delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we I have been forgiven” (Colossians 1:12-14).
It is said that the secret of health is not governed by external things, but by the spiritual world. So what is the spiritual world? Spirituality is to make the heart happy, that is, to laugh. Laughing a lot and having fun is the secret to good health. Laughter has the morality to laugh out loud without noticing others, and when you laugh, endorphins are released, and if you release a lot of endorphins, you will also have immunity. People who laugh and make others laugh are popular and healthy people. But greater than laughter is enlightenment. In enlightenment, you will feel gratitude, joy, happiness and blessing. Gratitude is in the deep realization of the thoughts. In English, “Thingk” (thought) and “Thangk” (thanks) have the same etymology. If you receive a good gift and do not realize that it is good, you will have neither gratitude nor joy. Therefore, in the thought of enlightenment, you feel gratitude and happiness. In other words, when you don't know the value, you don't appreciate it, but when you know the value, it comes with a deep realization that makes you feel grateful and happy.
How often we say “thank you” and “sorry” to others in our daily life is a measure that can be used to judge the level of a person’s personality.
Character is not knowledge or achievement, but maturity. Gratitude appears depending on the degree of maturity of your personality, and its original origin is in the past. When we think of the past in a positive way, we become grateful, and we become grateful for the present. And without gratitude to God for the future, there is no gratitude for the present. God has forgiven our sins, allowed us to go to heaven, and gave us eternal life. We have a heart of gratitude to God, and only faith in this grateful heart can please God.
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; to him who does his deeds right I will show the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23).
British Admiral Nelson lost his right eye during the War of Lekosima in 1770. He lost his right arm at the Battle of Gentoo Vincent in 1789. In 1805, at the Battle of Trafalgar Street, in a close encounter with the combined fleets of France and Spain, he was only killed by enemy bullets. The dying Nelson said. “Which side is winning?” The subordinate replied “our side”. Nelson's last words were heard. “Thank you for allowing me to fulfill my duties as God.” He was a great leader who even offered a prayer of thanks at the last moment.
“Everything that God has created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4).
The author of Paradise Lost, Milton, wrote an immortal masterpiece when he became blind. When he became blind, he gave thanks.
“I am thankful that my physical eyes are dark and I cannot see, but I have opened my spiritual eyes in return.”
This gratitude inspired him more abundantly than when he had opened his eyes, so he was able to write great works like Paradise Lost.
No matter how leisurely and prosperous the present life is, can a person who is not satisfied with it and is greedy for it be happy? Even if it is a little lacking and difficult, I am reminded anew that it is a happy and wonderful life to be grateful for my current life and live happily.
Life in a prison and a monastery is not much different. But the difference between a prison and a monastery is simply the difference between complaining or giving thanks. Rough eating, rough sleeping… Circumstances are similar, but prisons are usually full of complaints, and in monasteries, a day passes with gratitude. A life attitude of gratitude along with love is the greatest virtue of a Christian.
Theologian Bon Hoeffer confessed, “Above all, I thank God for allowing me to say thank you.” If we fail to give thanks, it seems to have opened the door wide to Satan as an original failure. Be grateful that we can love God and our neighbor in all circumstances.
“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
A poem written by an English poet.
“Some people blame people and blame God even if there is even a small obstacle on the way. Others thank God and pray even if only one ray of light shines on a dark road. There are people who say that life is hard and there are no joys in life even though they have a good house and good food, and there are people who are truly grateful for God’s grace even though they have a cramped house and barely enough food.”
Complaining is an easy thing to do, no matter how good the situation. Be grateful for the little things instead of complaining. Spurgeon said, “God gives us a candle when we thank the fireflies. If you thank the candles, they give you electric lights, and if you give thanks to the lights, they give you the light of the morning sun.”
Gratitude is harder than complaining, but it is also something that can be done in any bad situation. Gratitude depends on our mindset, not on our circumstances. Create a heart for gratitude rather than the circumstances around you for gratitude. I pray that you will become a saint who gives thanks for being able to love God more than anything else in this world.
* Prayer: Blessed be God forever! Don't be a grateful person only when good things happen, but give me the faith to give thanks even more during difficult times! May you always be grateful, unaffected by circumstances and conditions. When there is trouble in the world, when there is joy, when there is pain, when there is celebration, when there is something to despair, let me give thanks in everything. . I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen
/ Messenger of Light (Calvary Community)