Colossians 3:16
Have Gratitude in Your Heart
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Acts 17:24-25
God Has Everything He Needs and is Not Served by Human Hands
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
Grateful is defined as a feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful...Two synonyms of grateful are thankfulness and appreciation...Can we love someone without being grateful -or grateful to them?...Or can we be happy without being grateful?...Is being grateful related to love and/or happiness?...
As I was growing up a lot of my friends told be they wanted to be independent...I also found myself wanting this...I think we wanted to be out on our own and that to us meant independence...But independence from everything is not a good thing...Being on one's own and being self-sufficient may bring on an independent attitude...I think we may have forgotten about being dependent on our parents when we were born and until the time we were teenagers...But at some point independence quickly seemed very important...Did I owe my parents thanks for raising me and taking care of me during my formidable years?...Or is that just part of being a parent?...Nevertheless, I was dependent on them during the early years of my life...
And did my friends and I learn much about these young years about thankfulness, gratitude and being grateful?...Or did the quick teenage yearning for self-sufficiency and our independence cloud any desire to give thanks?...Is thankfulness tied to some sort of dependency or help from another?...Do I lose some of my self-sufficient attitude and ways, if I take the time to have a grateful attitude?...Did we and have we learned an attitude of gratefulness over time and as we age?...Does becoming independent and self-sufficient make one more thankful or less thankful?...
One might think as they grow up with less than others, they have fewer reasons to be grateful...But we need to look at this sort of thinking...I think, when one has everything they want growing up it is harder to be grateful...After all you would have everything you want...So wouldn't it seem to be harder to have an attitude of thankfulness, if you did have everything you always want and need?...When we have had things does that cloud thankfulness?...When we feel that we are entitled, we can find it harder to be thankful...When we want to be completely self-sufficient and on our own it is also, I think, more difficult to be thankful...I also think when we become completely self-absorbed in work or a hobby, it can take away from our gratitude...
In our faith we need this attitude of gratefulness and an attitude of thankfulness...So, a grateful attitude may help us spiritually...Cardinal James Gibbons said that gratitude is another essential element in the worship of God...God is the Author of every perfect gift...He is the Source of every blessing, natural or supernatural that comes to us...Gratitude has justly been called the Respiration of the Soul...He also said that ingratitude always carries a cold hearted disposition...The prayer of thanksgiving is a heavenly stream that flows into the ocean of divine love, and returns to us in showers of benediction...
God created us...He gives everyone life and breath and everything else...If God is our Creator, do we not owe Him our lives?...God is secure...Unlike some men who do want to be appreciated and regularly thanked -man can sometimes insecure in this area...God is not like that...God is completely secure in His ways and means...God also has complete understanding...Therefore, He deserves not only our praise, but our regular thanks...
Saying thank you and having a grateful attitude maybe good for our faith...