My Thoughts On // Gratitude

Hey y’all!  It’s once again November, and that means Thanksgiving is almost here!!  I didn’t want to go through the month without posting at least once on the topic of gratefulness, so I decided to go ahead and throw together a post with a hodge-podge of what’s been going through my head this season of thanksgiving.

Last year thanksgiving was huge on my heart, and I blogged multiple times on the topic of giving thanks.  This year, however, has been slightly different.  I have been more focused on Christmas and New Year’s.  But still, I didn’t want to forget thanksgiving altogether!

As I was sitting in chapel a few weeks ago as I was visiting a local Christian college, the speaker was discussing gratitude.  He really brought out the fact that ingratitude is a wicked sin.  I think that those 5 words alone shot conviction into my heart about my level of gratitude.  To be honest, it’s been pretty low these past few months.  I’ve heard before that gratitude is the key to joy, and my joy definitely has been sorely lacking.

That same day, I was sitting in a speech class, and the professor said this: “never write something you wouldn’t say.”  In my own words: “Don’t be someone on paper who you aren’t in life.  Write as if you were speaking the words.  Don’t fake a writing style.  You have a writing style, and that’s the only writing style for you.”

So, my readers, I’m going to combine those two life lessons and be very honest here.  I’ve faked my writing style on the blog.  Don’t get me wrong: I have not been lying to you, I promise!  I just haven’t embraced my own writing style.  I look at a writer I admire and see all their wit.  So I make my posts more carefree and witty.  Or I look at another writer and see how they really accent their main points.  So every time I say something I want you to note, I press “enter” and write the sentence on its own line. 

But that’s not me.  Those weren’t my ideas.  I don’t have the wit, and accenting big points by making new paragraphs isn’t my writing style (well, I do that ever-so-often, but not constantly). 

But how does this tie into the topic gratitude, you may ask?  Well, let me ask you another question: why do you think I was using the writing styles of others? Ingratitude!  I wasn’t being embracing my writing style and I told people “I hate my writing.  My writing is not any good.”  I’ve deleted countless numbers of sentences, paragraphs, and even articles, because I didn’t think they were good enough.  They didn’t sound right, or they didn’t sound as intelligent as other people’s writing did.  But you know what?  Each time I frowned or sighed or cringed at my writing, I was being ungrateful.  I don’t know how good my writing really is, but it is an ability God has given me, and I love it.  It’s a tool I can use to tell others about my awesome God!  And what can beat that incredible privilege?!

My writing is just one example; I could go on!  I have come to realize that there are so many abilities God has given me that I am ungrateful for.  And ingratitude is a wicked sin! 

So, I’m on a gratitude mission.  It’s going to be a long journey down to the root of my joy, but I am confident that my Jesus will walk with me all the way!  I’m sick of my complaining!  I’m sick of my discouragement!  I’m sick of my discontentment!  Today I’m starting afresh on the road to finding true joy through gratitude.

So those are my thoughts for you on the topic of gratitude.  I hope this challenges you to stop and check your heart today: is it shining bright with overflowing thankfulness and joy, or is there some discontentment and ingratitude lurking there?

I would love to know! :

How do you combat ingratitude? 

What areas of your life do you need to embrace in thankfulness?

Here are some posts from last year on the topic of thankfulness:

Autumn Thankfulness Challenge

With Thanksgiving Approaching…

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Also, check out my 2 “Autumn Thankfulness Challenge Update” posts in the October 2015 archives to hear about what I was thankful for!)