Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

The Cure for a Cynical Heart

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“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
(Psalm 9:1–2)

 Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, and while everyone is busy making preparations for the big meal and the family gatherings, may we not forget the reason why we’re all together – to give thanks to God for all His blessings.

I recently came upon the following from A.W. Tozer on Thankfulness As a Moral Therapeutic that I thought I would share which tells of the benefits of a spirit of thankfulness.

In this world of corruption there is a danger that the earnest Christian may overreact in his resistance to evil and become a victim of the religious occupational disease, cynicism. The constant need to go counter to popular trends may easily develop in him a sour habit of faultfinding and turn him into a sulky critic of other men’s matters, without clarity and without love.

What makes this cynical spirit particularly dangerous is that the cynic is usually right. His analyses are accurate, his judgment sound. He can prove he is right in his moral views; yet for all that he is wrong, frightfully, pathetically, wrong. But because he is right, he never suspects how tragically wrong he is. He slides imperceptibly into a condition of chronic bitterness and comes at last to accept it as normal.

Now as a cure for the sour, faultfinding attitude I recommend the cultivation of the habit of thankfulness. Thanksgiving has great curative power. The heart that is constantly overflowing with gratitude will be safe from those attacks of resentfulness and gloom that bother so many religious persons. A thankful heart cannot be cynical.

We should never take any blessing for granted, but accept everything as a gift from the Father of Lights. Whole days may be spent occasionally in the holy practice of being thankful. We should write on a tablet one by one the things for which we are grateful to God and to our fellow men. And a constant return to this thought during the day as our minds get free will serve to fix the habit in our hearts.

In trying to count our many blessings the difficulty is not to find things to count, but to find time to enumerate them all… To my parents I owe my life and my upbringing. To my teachers I owe that patient line-upon-line instruction that took me when I was a young, ignorant pagan and enabled me to read and write. To the patriots and statesmen of the past I owe the liberties I now enjoy. To numerous and unknown soldiers who shed their blood to keep our country free I owe a debt I can never pay. And I please God and enlarge my own heart when I remind the Lord that I am grateful for them.

Tozer, A.W. The Root of the Righteous. (Harrisburg, PA, Christian Publications Inc., 1955) Pg. 122-125.

So if you’re struggling with a bitter and cynical heart, find your cure in thankfulness. Make your list of blessings today – count your blessings, name them one by one. Pour out before the Lord your gratitude and praise, not just when the bird is on the table, but each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sola Deo Gloria!

An Attitude of Gratitude

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“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever…”
Psalm 136:1 (ESV)

 A new year is a great time to start something new, right?  I know everyone makes their resolutions, and I used to do the same.  I’ve given up making resolutions at the new year, only because I want to avoid the guilt of breaking said resolution only a couple of weeks into the year – why set myself up for disappointment.  Instead, there are things I know I need to do, and I will just get up and do them, without having to go through all the drama.  I’m running again after a month’s break, I’m cutting back on the soda, and I have restarted my Bible reading plan with the new year – all things that are good to do, but without the extra pressure of attaching “resolution” status to it.

Then along comes my wife.

Usually she’s not one to go in for all the New Year resolutions either – same thing about avoiding self-disappointment – so I thought I was safe.  But Christi comes to me with an idea – and with that irresistible twinkle in her eye – saying, “I think we should keep ‘Thanksgiving Journals’ this year.”  The idea is that each day you write down something you are thankful for.  You don’t share these journals, and they don’t have to be elaborate.  You can say you are thankful for air conditioning, or a good night’s sleep, or whatever you can think of that day – only thing is, you can’t repeat yourself.

Being a good husband, I said, “Sure, honey, I’d love to.”  What is really interesting is that I had already resolved to do something similar.  On our way home from vacation, I started writing “Thank You” cards for all of our Christmas gifts and I thought, “I really ought to do this more often.”  Then I read in Alexander Strauch’s book, Leading with Love this quote, “God is verbal, and he created us to be verbal creatures.  So in our ministry we must learn to be generous with our words of praise and thanks.”  Then my daily devotion led me to the Psalm that’s listed above.

Okay, I get it.  Through my wife, through my reading, and through my daily Scripture I think the Holy Spirit is trying to get something through my thick head.  In light of all that God has done for me, my only response ought to be one of gratitude and praise.  So often I get caught up in the busyness of life and my eyes gaze downward from God’s glory and all I can do is grumble about the stuff I’m going through.  But if I would only lift my eyes upward to the goodness and glory of God, who is the giver of every perfect gift, how much lighter would my spirit be, how great the satisfaction my soul would know, how sweet the songs from these lips of mine, how joyful my heart would ever be.

I know it sounds cliché, but it still rings true, we need to develop an attitude of gratitude.  Finding something to be thankful for, even in the midst of struggles and setbacks, helps us to stay focused on the blessings and the one who gives the blessings.  Purposefully expressing your gratitude toward God, and toward those around you, shares the joy and love of your heart.  Love that is not expressed is not really love.  Gratitude that is never shared is not really gratitude.  The more you express your appreciation and love for others and for God, the more that love and appreciation will grow.

So here’s my challenge to you: Find a way each day to express your thanks, your gratitude, your love to God and to those around you.  I guarantee you it will have a multiplying affect in your joy in living.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  (Colossians 3:17)

SDG