"A Very Un-Thanksgiving"

EPISODE 77

Overcome Ingratitude

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I once heard someone say, "No one wakes up in the morning saying, 'I want to be as miserable as I can today!'" That's probably true, but some people seem to have achieved that goal nonetheless! You, too, can discover new lows in your disposition! You have the power to be dour! The key is to avoid giving thanks. Just follow these three simple steps and discover a lifetime of ingratitude!

Step 1: Comparison

This strategy requires us to shift our focus away from what we have to what we don't have — and we can accomplish this in several ways.

First, we can compare our lives with how things used to be. You might remember your life fondly before kids when you could do things like go into a restroom without someone banging on a door. Or how things used to be in America in what seems like a simpler time. It's easy to become ungrateful when you focus on how things were better before.

The Israelites frustrated the Lord to no end with this. After God delivered them from slavery, they remembered the fish they ate in Egypt at no cost — also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Num. 11:5). They were beaten and treated like property, but the Egyptians grew tasty cucumbers. The opposite of comparison is noticing what is good right now.

We can also compare ourselves with other people. The Israelites were often more interested in what the other nations had than God's good will for them. When we get caught up in other people's stuff: homes, cars, clothes, jobs, degrees, looks, kids — we start to ignore what God has given us, to focus on the things he has NOT GIVEN US. It's a fine way to become UNgrateful.

Step 2: Self-Absorption

If you can become so oblivious that you "forget the Lord" (Deut. 8:11-19) — so caught up in yourself, you don't even recognize why you should be grateful — you have taken bold steps toward the ungrateful life. Go from blessing to blessing like spoiled children, never pausing to notice God's gifts. Paul describes these individuals as "lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable …" (2 Tim. 3:2-5).

Step 3: Self-Sufficiency

Though we depend on God for everything, you can master the illusion of self-sufficiency! Remind yourself how hard you work for things, without acknowledging that others work hard for half as much. Tell yourself that you are the only reason you have what others don't, and you'll eliminate your awareness of grace in your life. "Beware lest you say 'my hand has gotten me this wealth' ... It is he who gives you power to get wealth" (Deut. 8:17-18). Do you see the good things in your life as gotten or given?

Have you achieved — perhaps without even trying — a life of ingratitude? The alternative is awareness, appreciation, and acknowledgment of our blessings — giving thanks daily to the Giver of all good things (James 1:17)!