ThanksLiving: A Thanksgiving Reading PlanSample

As we have come to understand, Christian living should be marked by intentional thanksgiving. One important exercise for every Christ-follower is to continually examine and poke holes in your spirit of ingratitude. Look again at that Detecting Unthankfulness list and argue with your wrong feelings, sayings and doings.

Fight your ingratitude by examining it through a biblical lens. The Apostle Paul asks, “What have you received that hasn’t been given to you?” (1 Cor. 4:7). Oops! Nothing that I have has been earned or deserved—that’s humbling and grates against our ingratitude.

Do you feel entitled? Examine that attitude with a theological lens. If we all got what we truly deserved, none of us would still be alive. The only thing we deserve is to be hurled into an eternal hell. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot from the pastors of war-torn, disease-ridden, famine-stricken countries who thank God at our conferences for keeping them alive! As I would preach during long, hot hours, they would thank God for keeping them awake and alert. 

Think about these godly saints who have not yet received many rewards for their faithfulness (especially if we are only thinking of material rewards). They may receive very little this side of heaven. I am humbled by people all over the world who work as hard as I do, in more difficult circumstances, and will never possess as much as I have. I am perpetually thankful since I really should have less than these struggling brothers and sisters of my larger family. This reality squashes any feeling of entitlement.