Be Thankful: Gratitude Check

All around us are alarming stories of tragedy and of loss, but have we become so desensitized to death and loss?

Television reports of mass murders, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, police shootings, missing children, carjackings, home invasions, murder suicides, and other tragedies show us what’s happening in the world BUT have you stopped to think about the people affected by these tragedies?

Have you taken a defensive stance against protecting your life, limb, and home without really reflecting on the impact such a tragedy would have on you and the ones you love?

Take for a moment to look around and take an inventory of what you have... where will you start?

Is it your house? Your car? Your family? These are the most obvious things for which we are thankful, yet we still often fail to show appreciation to others in our family.

When was the last time you woke up and thanked God for your house or your car, your spouse, or your child?? Some of us operate in gratitude and continuously give thanks for all things and for everyone. The sad fact is that the closest we are to our last close call or our last loss- the more gratitude we express.

Now let’s examine even further our gratitude.

Have you ever been thankful for your bed? After a long hard day at work and driving home in the rain, people often say they can’t wait to get home to their beds. What about a regular day? What if something happened that caused you to lose your house? What if your home was blown away? Would you miss your bed and all of your other belongings that were blown away with the force of the wind or flooded beyond repair?

There are many people who pray for what you have.

You name it, someone is praying for it right now. The child that causes you so much stress, the wife who keeps nagging you to build that swing, the husband who alwayss misses the basket when he throws his work clothes on the floor.... I can go on.

There is someone praying for the love and companionship of a spouse. There are also those mourning the loss of children and spouses to senseless acts of crime; even suicide and illness have taken people away from those who love them.... we often hear “tell your family you love them while they are still alive” (and you are too).

May we translate that also into give God thanks and praise for the people in your life- no matter how challenging?

People are quick to make jokes about those less fortunate.

Some pick on people who love in trailer parks. Some pick on people who sleep on air mattresses, but what if you found yourself in the middle of a tragedy, attempting to put all the pieces together? Imagine looking at the rubble that used to be your home and wondering where you will lay your head. Even if you found yourself fortunate to stay in a hotel, because you were loaded with insurance and savings, would you still miss your bed, your house, and all of your belongings?

 Have you thanked God for those things?

Take a moment to write out a list of everything you could lose in the blink of an eye......


Now. Give God praise for each of these things. Vow to never again make fun of or judge another based on what they do not have. You could be next.

God works in mysterious ways.

Be thankful. Practice gratitude..

Self-Love through Spiritual Growth- A reflective exercise

If someone were to ask you if you love yourself, your response would likely be "of course". But are you sure?

Sometimes God will put us in situations to learn how to truly love ourselves. Often times, God will use someone we love to show us how to love ourselves. Take for example a relationship that you've endured in which you stayed in way too long.

Was there some point that you "woke up" and said "I deserve better than this?"

Are you still settling, holding out that someone will change and eventually treat you the way you want/deserve to be treated?

Leaving a toxic relationship or other toxic environment (e.g., a job) is an act of self-love. What we must remember is that had we truly loved ourselves, we would not have allowed ourselves to stay in these toxic relationships/environments for long.

Self-love involves knowing our worth. 

Self-love involves deciding not to settle.

Self-love involves setting boundaries.

Most of all, self-love involves knowing what to and what not to accept.

Although there may be someone else who pushes us to the point of leaving, this someone else is a mirror unto ourselves. This someone else tests our self-love. 

When we find ourselves afraid to set boundaries for fear of being abandoned, we have some growth to do. What are we afraid of? This situation causes us to examine our fears and the root of our fears. Remember, perfect love casts out all fear. 1 John 4:18

When we find ourselves allowing ourselves to feel "less than", "unappreciated", "taken for granted", "inferior", "unworthy", we are not loving ourselves. 

What keeps us in situations where we feel "less than"? God says you are the head and not the tail, above and not beneath (Deuteronomy 28:13). But what must you do to allow yourself to truly feel that way? The verse shares the solution "if you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and closely follow them..." What is God telling you about the relationship/environment? Is He telling you to leave?

It is vital that we view ourselves and our relationships/situations from a spiritual lens. This is what leads to growth. It is unlearning all of the negative things we've been taught about life and about ourselves and instead focusing on God's Word regarding our self-image and promises for our lives.

What has God told us about who we are? 

I am the Creator and you are my creation. I breathed into your nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). I created you in my own image (Genesis 1:27). My eyes saw your unformed substance (Psalm 139:16). I knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). I know the number of hairs on your head, and before a word is on your tongue I know it (Matthew 10:30; Psalm 139:4). You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

Have you ever stopped to ask, “What does God think about me? Who does he say that I am?”

YOU ARE VALUABLE

You are more valuable than many sparrows (Matthew 10:31). I have given you dominion over all sheep and oxen and all beasts of the field and birds of the heavens and fish of the sea (Psalm 8:6–8; Genesis 1:26, 28). I have crowned you with glory and honor as the pinnacle and final act of the six days of creation (Psalm 8:5; Genesis 1:26).

  

What has God promised you? Are you living the life He promised?

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.  John 10:10

Take a moment to reflect on these things......

Now, recognize that anytime you feel in opposition about what God says about you, you are not practicing self-love. Anytime you feel inferior, unworthy, etc., you are outside of God's declaration of you as a child of the Most High God. 

You must accept your worth in the eyes of God before you can feel worthy of HIS Promises. Abundance of life is not about money, but God promises you abundant peace, abundant joy, abundance in all areas of your life, so that your life may be full. 

Why are you giving away your peace and joy by remaining in a situation that is stealing it?

When you no longer settle, when you no longer tolerate being treated poorly, when you no longer attempt to hold out under the guise of suffering for someone else to treat you the way you deserve to be treated, then you can truly say you love yourself. You truly have experienced the self-love that leads to self-growth.

Meditate on these things to experience the spiritual growth that leads to increased self-love.

KjB