Can you BELIEVE this scripture passage actually had THE NERVE to list “UNGRATEFUL” in with: lovers of self and money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Tim. 3:1-5)
Come on – UNGRATEFUL - how big a deal are we talking about? Listen, if you only knew how hard my life is or was, how it is not what I deserve, how unappreciated I am, how all the dreams and plans I have worked for and dreamed of are gone, then you would let me wear the word UNGRATEFUL as my sash and even give me some places to wear it proudly!
But wait, as I reevaluate my stance on deserving the right to flash the crown of an UNGRATEFUL life, I begin to see UNGRATEFUL as the beginning – perhaps the seed - of the other stuff on the 2 Timothy list. With a perspective (heart eyes) originating from an UNGRATEFUL heart, EVERYTHING is affected. Check it out – that list in 2 Timothy is a mirror of an UNGRATEFUL heart! You see the loving of the created things more than the Creator, the responses of the heart are attitudes from an UNGRATEFUL heart, and an UNGRATEFUL heart is always full of excuses as to why it is OK to be the way that I am!
Thankfully, God is greater than ungrateful. His patience, His intense never-ceasing love, His presence and faithfulness are overwhelming.
God believes GRATITUDE is a big deal.
God believes CONTENTMENT is a big deal.
God believes MY HEART is a big deal.
“The steadfast love of the Lord NEVER ceases; His mercies NEVER come to an end; they are NEW EVERY MORNING; GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS.” Lamentations 3:22-23
“Create in me a PURE HEART, O God, and RENEW a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
“Enter into His gates with THANKSGIVING and into His courts with PRAISE; give THANKS TO HIM AND PRAISE HIS NAME. FOR THE LORD IS GOOD AND HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.” Psalm 100:4-5a
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