Am I Thankful?

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you were called as one body.  And be thankful." Col. 3:15

It's a new year and I have a new word to focus on.  GRATITUDE.  As I can have a complaining or negative spirit, I think sowing gratefulness or thankfulness is beneficial.  It is more than easy to get caught up in the "who has is worse" contest.  You know...someone voices something about their life or situation and you have to chime in with your own?  We complain about our marriages, children, homes, jobs, finances and on and on.  No one wants to be around a Debbie Downer!  And if I learned anything from 2016, it was that it all can be gone in a second.  

My study on gratitude has taken me to Colossians.  Paul uses the word thankful several times in this letter and in several ways.  First, he is thankful in prayer, for the Church and their faith and love.  The word is a verb, an action.  Second, he encourages the Church to abound in thanksgiving.  This is a noun.  Expressed during worship.  Here in Chapter 3, he tells us to BE thankful.  It's an adjective.  The word is eucharistos and is defined "grateful, agreeable to others."  An adjective describes a person, place or thing (thank you elementary school).  So...can others DESCRIBE you as thankful?  Sadly, most of us would not be.

I find it interesting that Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, put this nugget right after telling us to let the peace of Christ rule or govern our hearts.  NOTHING will wreck your peace like a complaining spirit.  It breeds fear, anger, greed, and a number of other sins.

For example, we all can take part in the "who's child is the worst" contest.  It goes like this..."Today, my kid did such and such." "Really?  Well, my kid did such and such AND he/she drives me crazy."  "Oh! Well, my kid wouldn't let me sleep." "My kid wouldn't let me go to the bathroom"  And it goes on and on.  Then, you see your child...this precious PERSON that God gifted you to love and bring up to hopefully someday come to know Him...and you are mad at them!  And they haven't even done anything yet!  You wound them with your words or actions.  See the progression??

For me, it's high time to get off the Compare and Complain Express and get off at Gratitude station.  Are my children angels?  Um...no.  But they deserve my gratitude for their young lives and a mom who speaks well of them.  Is my husband perfect?  No, but he deserves a cheerleader that is his biggest fan.  Is my house the Taj Mahal?  No...mostly because it's not a tomb or covered in marble and gold.  But it deserves my respect and attention because it's where God has chosen for me to raise this village.  Is my job perfect? (insert big pause here)  This is where I will be tested the most.  Let's be honest...sometimes it's TOO easy to complain about your job.  No one wants to be there.  But, it's the mission field where God has hand picked people for me to touch, to show work ethic, to be positive around in hopes that I earn the trust to speak God's life into them.  I can't do that if I am constantly negative and complaining.  PLUS, it's God provision for my family's needs!  How can I really complain about that?!

If this seems impossible, to be grateful all the time, IT IS!  Without the peace of Christ ruling in your heart.  The word peace here is defined as an arbitrator- a thing used to settle a dispute.  There is a dispute in us between the flesh and the Spirit.  His peace, when in control of us, will help us to choose the way that will make us thankful.  The next time the compare/complain contest comes to me, I hope to choose to let peace reign and make a thankful statement instead.  I pray that the people I meet will be able to DESCRIBE me that way.