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¹It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to the Most High.
²It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,
your faithfulness in the evening.
Psalm 92:1-2 (NLT)

A few weeks ago, I published a blog titled The Proof of Repentance – Living Differently. The point of the article was that when we agree with God about our sin, we choose to live differently. We choose to let go of sinful behaviors and replace them with behaviors that are pleasing to God. That makes us counterculture.

If ever there was a lifestyle pattern in which we need to be counterculture, it is grumbling and complaining. It is the most common conversational “style” I find – both among Christians and non-Christians. Ask anyone how they are doing and you are unlikely to hear about how blessed they are, even though we live in a most blessed country. Yes, we’re going through a recession and perhaps they’re not feeling as “blessed” as they were five years ago, but on our very worst days, we’re still living in a blessed country.

Psalm 92 instructs us to give thanks, sing praises and proclaim His unfailing love in the morning and His faithfulness in the evening. That’s a lifestyle of thanksgiving and praise. And it’s inconsistent with grumbling and complaining. A thankful heart must be developed and cultivated in our culture because grumbling and complaining is so prevalent. I confess – sometimes I feel like I have to complain about something just to be a part of the crowd. If I’m not complaining, I’m just too different from everyone else to be comfortable! Lord forgive me! Teach me to embrace the discomfort of not being like everyone else so that I can live in the joy of thanksgiving!

A thankful heart lifts our eyes to the Lord – I need that. A grumbling and complaining heart puts my eyes on the situation – and the very worst elements of it. Next week’s blog is going to be all about that!

This week, I want to get us thinking.

• What do you have to be thankful for?
• What keeps you from being thankful?
• How strong is your thankful heart? Mine is doing OK, but I know it could be stronger.

I’m looking forward this month to learning about how to grow my thankful heart and then…actually growing it! My goal for the next four weeks is to become a more thankful person. Because I’m convinced that there is joy to be found in thankfulness. In good times and in bad times. I am hoping that people notice the difference, but even if they don’t, I will.

I am anticipating going into a difficult few months. We all face times that are more challenging than others. I want to experience my thankful heart growing stronger before I get too far into that difficult period.

So let’s start with an easy assignment. (At least I it’s an easy one.) Memorize Psalm 92:1-2.

¹It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to the Most High.
²It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning,
your faithfulness in the evening.
Psalm 92:1-2 (NLT)

And if you find that to be a really easy assignment, begin to implement it.

• Every morning when you wake, proclaim – declare with enthusiasm and confidence – God’s unfailing love.
• Pause before each meal to give thanks – truly give thanks, don’t just repeat words you often say but frequently don’t fully embrace.
• At least once each day sing praises to God. (Perhaps you could sing your thanksgiving before one of your meals.)
• Every night before you go to sleep, proclaim – again, declare it with enthusiasm and confidence – God’s faithfulness.

I’m looking forward to this week…and next week and the week after that. I’m looking forward to them because I believe that developing a heart of thanksgiving has tremendous power to transform us into the people God wants us to be. And that will not only please God, it will bring more joy into my life.

So…let grumbling and complaining cease and let the thanksgiving begin!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 at 7:32 am and is filed under Blessed Life, Christian Living, grumbling & complaining, Praise, thanksgiving. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.