{"id":237,"date":"2014-12-23T22:58:59","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T03:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/?p=237"},"modified":"2014-12-23T22:58:59","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T03:58:59","slug":"have-these-grrrr-attitudes-stolen-your-gratitude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/have-these-grrrr-attitudes-stolen-your-gratitude\/","title":{"rendered":"Have These “Grrrr”-Attitudes Stolen Your Gratitude?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gratitude\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas is almost here, and if we are not careful, our thankfulness has disappeared quicker than Grandma\u2019s pumpkin pie.\u00a0 We know we are to be thankful more than one day a year, but it\u2019s easy to let our gratitude dwindle and disappear.\u00a0We know that God commands us to give thanks – always, in every thing – and yet we often fail to obey.<\/p>\n

I recently shared some thoughts about struggling during the Christmas season.\u00a0 Many times we have a hard time with joy and thankfulness because of losses that are entirely out of our control (losses of loved ones, changes in circumstances, etc.), but sometimes we struggle because we have allowed a grateful heart to be stolen away from us.<\/p>\n

Satan is a robber.\u00a0 He is cunning and devious, and is constantly looking for ways to come in and rob us of many things, including our gratitude, our contentment, our peace, and our joy.\u00a0 We guard against thieves who would steal our material belongings.\u00a0 How much more should we be on guard in our hearts and homes against those thieves that would steal what is truly precious?<\/p>\n

Has your gratitude been stolen?\u00a0 If so, you may not even realize it yet.\u00a0 We often are unaware of our own ungratefulness, but the easiest way to realize it is gone is by recognizing one or more of these attitudes that has removed it and taken its place.\u00a0 Here are seven of the most common \u201cgrrrr\u201d-attitudes:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Skewed Expectations<\/strong> \u2013 This attitude slips in quietly and whispers, \u201cI dream<\/em><\/strong>\u201d. With beautiful imaginings and unrealistic fantasies, this robber steals our appreciation for the simple realities of everyday life.\u00a0 It causes us to be dissatisfied with relationships, people, circumstances, and more because they can never quite meet our expectations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. A Sense of Entitlement<\/strong> \u2013 Entitlement says, \u201cI deserve<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He walks up boldly with his hand out, and feels it is well within his rights not only to take what you give him, but to steal from you the moment you turn your back.\u00a0 This character is never grateful for anything, even from God, because he feels it was already his to start with.\u00a0 When we adopt this attitude, we often become very unhappy because we feel that everyone, including God, owes us something.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Stockpiled Excess<\/strong> \u2013 This thief smirks, \u201cI don\u2019t need anything or anyone, but I want\u201d<\/em><\/strong>. Rather than seeing his abundant blessings as a gift from God to be shared with others, he is greedy and selfish, and never satisfied.\u00a0 He, like the church in Laodicea, sees himself as \u201crich, and increased with goods, and\u2026\u201d having \u201cneed of nothing\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. Sinful Egotism<\/strong> \u2013 A close relative of Entitlement, this thief asserts, \u201cI demand<\/em><\/strong>.\u201d Willful, narcissistic, and never happy unless life is revolving around himself and his desires, he may appear outwardly thankful when he is getting his way, but he is never inwardly thankful.\u00a0Sadly, it is easy to embrace this proud and selfish attitude, but it is the opposite of the humble, giving, surrendered spirit that God desires us to have.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. Spiteful Envy<\/strong> \u2013 This thief is constantly complaining, and you will often hear him saying, \u201cI despise<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d He despises who he is, what he has, and others, because rather than looking with thankfulness at what God has given, he is constantly comparing it to what someone else has.\u00a0 Envy is too busy coveting the blessings of others to count his own.\u00a0 Envy is the thief who comes in and chooses to destroy what others have rather than to be happy that they have it. When we allow envy into our hearts, we will eventually become consumed with it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. Slothful Ease<\/strong> \u2013 Another cousin of Entitlement, he says, \u201cI desire, but I will not work.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d This crook could have what he needs, but he is too lazy to work for it.\u00a0 He cries and whines about all the things he wishes he had, and what others owe him, but he will scarcely get out of bed to feed himself.\u00a0\u00a0 Thankfulness requires too much effort.\u00a0 When you consider being thankful, this attitude will tell you it\u2019s too hard, too time-consuming, too much trouble.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Sidetracked Extensions<\/strong> \u2013 This thief is very sneaky. He simply says, \u201cI delay.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 He gets you to procrastinate, get distracted, and put off being thankful.\u00a0 You may feel grateful, but rather than expressing your thanks, he tells you, \u201cDo it later.\u00a0 Say it later.\u201d \u00a0This may be the most subtle and dangerous and attitude of all, for when we allow this attitude to be a part of our lives, we become unthankful simply by postponement.\u00a0 Gratefulness unexpressed is thankfulness unreceived. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                A grateful heart says, \u201cI am a debtor.\u00a0 I will be thankful for every detail of my life \u2013 the small and the large, the perfect and the imperfect \u2013 because life itself is a gift from God.\u00a0 I will give my expectations to Him, and having food and raiment, I will be content.\u00a0 I will work hard for what I have, and be thankful to God for the strength, and thankful to others for the opportunity.\u00a0 As God blesses me, I will do my utmost to share His goodness with those around me.\u00a0\u00a0 I will be grateful for God\u2019s mercy, because what I truly deserve is judgment.\u00a0 I will thank God for His grace, because I do not deserve any of His goodness to me.\u00a0 I will be content with such things as I have, for He has promised never to leave or forsake me.\u00a0 I will offer Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving every day, because He is worthy.\u00a0 I will be thankful to, and for, others, because God is using them in my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

                Are you grateful today?\u00a0 Have you expressed your thankfulness to God, and to those around you?\u00a0 Have any (or many) or these \u201cgrrr-attitudes\u201d taken over in your life and stolen away your grateful heart?\u00a0 Do you recognize any of these attitudes in your children?\u00a0 Don\u2019t delay.\u00a0 Get rid of these attitudes!\u00a0 God will forgive you if you will repent.\u00a0 Ask Him to help you chase away these bad attitudes, and to make you truly grateful. \u00a0Have a grateful heart today and every day!<\/p>\n

                “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (I Thes. 5:18)<\/p>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Thanksgiving has come and gone, Christmas is almost here, and if we are not careful, our thankfulness has disappeared quicker than Grandma\u2019s pumpkin pie.\u00a0 We know we are to be thankful more than one day a year, but it\u2019s easy … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[46,42],"tags":[96,98,97,99,95],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotional-thoughts","category-inspiration","tag-attitude","tag-change","tag-gratitude","tag-stolen","tag-thankful"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4L3GS-3P","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237\/revisions\/241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christiancompositions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}