I recently ran across a great quote by conservative commentator, Dennis Prager. He said, "All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy."
As I read that quote, I began to think about the correlation between gratitude and happiness. Gratitude fosters happiness, contentment, and a sense of joy in our lives. Happiness is a result of gratitude. The wonderful thing about this is that, while we cannot always just choose to be happy, we can always choose to be grateful, which results in happiness. So in a roundabout way, we are choosing happiness when we choose to be grateful.
How do we get there? How do we choose happiness? We submit ourselves to God! Far more than just optimism and a positive outlook is required to become a person marked by gratitude! As we surrender our lives to the Lord, we see more and more of His goodness. As our relationship with Him grows, we find ourselves overwhelmed by His grace and our lives are constantly re-oriented to praise, thanksgiving, and worship!
Don't complain about your situation, pray about it! Talk to the Lord. Seek Him... you will find that you have much to be thankful for!
People who are truly thankful don't complain, rather, they find reasons to be grateful. Matthew Henry, who wrote a commentary on every book of the Bible, was once robbed. The thieves took everything of value that he had. Later that evening he wrote in his diary these words, "I am thankful that during these years I have never been robbed before. Also, even though they took my money, they did not take my life. Although they took all I had, it was not much. Finally, I am grateful that it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed." Every reason to complain, but still thankful.
No comments:
Post a Comment