Learning to be Thankful

We're coming up on the holiday of Thanksgiving, where we usually get together with friends and family to fellowship and eat...and we might say one or two things that we're thankful for.  But instead of saving our one or two things for that day, we need to have an ATTITUDE of thanksgiving as well as an EXPRESSION of thanksgiving throughout every day of the year!  

God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that part of His will for every believer is to give thanks in everything.  I don't know about you, but I know that it is very easy for me to become complacent and ungrateful.  After all, we live in America and are growing up in the "microwave" generation where if we have to wait for something for more than 60 seconds we complain.  We need to shake that off and develop the characteristic of a thankful attitude.  I believe that some people may be born with a more positive outlook on life while others aren't, but no matter which category we fall under, a thankful attitude is something that requires work to obtain...but it is well worth it!

In addition to having a thankful attitude, we also need to express our gratefulness.  Someone probably won't ever know that you are thankful for something unless you express it, whether that is through words or a card or a hug or some other kind of gesture.  People long to feel appreciated...I know I love to hear "thank you" and I bet there is someone in each of our lives that needs to hear it today too.

Let's not just let this time of year come and go and leave all of our "thank yous" in November...let's work hard to develop an attitude of gratitude and let's show it!