Gratitude

Gratitude

 

Dear Champions,

 

The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the Scripture is Luke 18:17-18   Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?

 

Two hidden sins are greed and ungratefulness.  No one thinks that they're greedy, and no one thinks that they are ungrateful.

 

Jesus healed 10 men with leprosy, and only one came back to say thank you.  If you could interview the nine men that did not come back, they would all say that they are grateful.  However, unexpressed gratitude communicates ingratitude and is actually a form of rejection.  If gratitude is not expressed, then it does not exist.  

 

We gravitate toward environments and relationships where we feel accepted, and we are repelled by environments where we fell rejected.  Unexpressed gratitude drives people's hearts out of the relationship.  Gratitude closes the loop in our relationships with God and with others.  To refuse to pay my debts of gratitude is to live with an inflated view of myself.  You have never met an arrogant person that is grateful, and you have never met a humble person that is not grateful.  A returner is someone that is willing to go back to thank those that allowed them to go forward.  We all owe someone a debt of gratitude.

 

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated." (From How to Win Friends and Influence People)

 

Champions, have a great week!-David Vining