Title: The Habit of Gratitude
Contents
? A habit of gratitude? Colossians 3:15-17
When a person repeats an action, it becomes a habit. People with good habits do good deeds. So habits are important. The same goes for complaining and gratitude. On this Thanksgiving Day, let's think about the habits we should have and the habits we should give up.
1. The saints must give up the habit of complaining.
A person who likes to complain is an unhappy person, no matter how good the environment. The devil encourages murmuring. In the book of Job, Satan says to God, I am confident that I will make him complain and complain about God from the mouth of Job (Job 1:11). So Job loses all his wealth. 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. But Job did not blame God or complain. When Job's ten sons and daughters were having a feast in a large house, a great wind blew and all ten children died. Still, Job did not complain or complain. It's not because you don't love your children. Not only that, Satan struck Job's body, causing bruises all over his body. However, even if it would have been better if the day he was born had not happened, he did not blame or complain about God.
If a complaint against God had come out of Job's mouth, Satan would have ridiculed in triumph. Satan was eventually defeated, and Job was blessed twice as much as before. Complaints don't just pass. It plunges you deeper into the puddle of pain. Complaining once or twice becomes a habit. And all complaints are heard by God. After the Exodus, the Israelites often grumbled and complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Did you lead us out to kill us? They complained about food and water. They say that slavery in Egypt was better, and that it would be better to die in the wilderness. After disbelief and complaining in Kadesh, they complained that they wanted to die in the wilderness, so they die in the wilderness. Complaining and resentment are ultimately unbelief in not trusting God.
2. Believers must have the habit of gratitude.
The habit of complaining should be abandoned, even if it is painful. Instead, you should develop a habit of gratitude. Joseph sold to Egyptian merchants when his brothers tried to kill him. How embarrassing would you be? Even in Egypt, he continued to experience injustice. But God lifts them high. Why? He gave in to circumstances and circumstances and did not complain. They depended only on God. After becoming prime minister, when his brothers come to Joseph, he tells them that God sent them to save our lives.
Joseph knew the meaning of suffering. Joseph's life would have ended with punishment if he had lived resenting and complaining about the terrible brothers he sold to Egypt. What is in a person's heart determines a person's future. Even though it is an earthenware jar, if it contains a treasure, it is a treasure jar. Joseph's heart jar contained a heart that was valuable in God's sight. When I was sold as a slave, it seemed painful on the outside, but it was the beginning of blessing. It was a step toward becoming the prime minister of Egypt when he was unfairly imprisoned. It's not just Joseph. All things work together for good for the saved children of God. That is why the Apostle Paul always uses the word 'everything' whenever he expresses his gratitude. Gratitude is always a habit to do.
Gratitude is a way to open God's door, and complaining is a way to close God's door. In the Old Testament, the three great feasts are all feasts of thanksgiving. Among them, the Harvest Festival was a season to give thanks for the first harvest of the year. Believers should be thankful for the past, thank for the present, and believe and give thanks for the grace that will be given to them in the future. The words to give thanks are recorded three times in the text. May we have the thanksgiving of the heart (verse 15), the thanksgiving of the words (verse 17), and the gratitude of the life (verse 17). Just give up the habit of complaining and get into the habit of gratitude.