Today’s guest contributor is an older saint who attends our church named Greg. This is only part of his note—which was way longer than 250 words! Thanks Greg for sharing :)
Good Morning, my name is Greg. I live in Raynham, MA, and am a social worker, who works for God and gets paid by the VA. I say I work for God because everything I have is God’s.
For me the 100 Day Pursuit has broadened and reinforced my prayer life. I enjoy waking up each day, reading my devotionals, which are good, but the 100 day letter(s) encourage me to go deeper. Where have I heard that before?
One might ask themselves, what is my purpose? For me it is to serve the Lord. Some days I not only miss the mark, I’m not even near it! Within each letter is a different lesson, an opportunity to learn. Believe me, you, I need all the help I can get!
Learning opportunities include but are not limited to: fasting, suggested authors/theologians (I’ve begun reading some of the prayers from the Spurgeon library and a 40 day study by Bonhoeffer), speaking in tongues and those who can interpret those speaking in tongues. Would I like to listen to a podcast? Yes, though I’d need some help from my daughters.
In closing, each day allows me to ponder ways to improve my prayer life and go deeper. I think of short prayers, intercessory prayer, reading the Psalms and praying after each verse, writing down prayers and Bible verses to reread. The list could go on. These letters provide me a way to get to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in a close and meaningful way.
Scott’s testimonies remind me of the many times Christ has saved my life! From myself and others (stories for another day). Thank you Lord and thank you to those who unbeknownst to me were praying for me, a lost sinner.
Contagious
After reading Greg’s note I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to talk about the importance of associating with grateful souls in our pursuit of God. For years Greg has been one of the most devoted attendees of our various prayer gatherings. He tends to be on the quiet side. He’s not shy but just has a beautiful listening heart. On Zoom calls he looks like a gruff guy with his full beard and contemplative gaze—until he opens his mouth. His prayers are always overflowing with joy, kindness and extreme thankfulness. His attitude is contagious.
In our pursuit of God it’s easy to forget how good the Lord is. Some of us struggle more than others. For me, I confess, gratitude doesn’t come naturally. My bend is to complain, grumble, whine and criticize. I’m not proud of that. I really want to be someone who is saturated with gratitude—like Greg! But I have to really work hard at it. It’s like I wake up every day finding my memory has been deleted during my sleep. I have to start from scratch each day counting my blessings.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1-5
I don’t think I need to build a case for why it’s so important to be thankful in our pursuit of God. There is a definite correlation between gratitude and joy. And joy is the great fuel that energizes our prayers. When we are ungrateful we quickly become lethargic and unmotivated. This principle doesn’t relate to just spiritual things but all aspects of life. Attitude is everything.
Why am I so negative?
Where does this “attitude of gratitude” come from? Why do some have it while others don’t? We have to at least acknowledge that some of us are biologically predisposed in ways that tend to be negative or positive. You can literally see the varying dispositions of babies in their first year. Some are smiley happy babies that love everything and everyone. Other babies, well, seem to come out of the womb angry and miserable. By the time kids hit grade school you see some who are joyful like Tigger and others who are like Eeyore, mopey and negative about everything.
The home environment is another huge factor that contributes to our attitude in life. If the conversation around the dinner table led by mom and dad is filled with criticalness, complaining, and negativity, it’s no surprise that the children adopt a similar attitude. Parents don’t teach their kids to be ungrateful, but it is translated to them by a sort of relational osmosis. We become our parents!
The above two factors, our biological predisposition and our home environment, are things beyond our control. That’s why I say some of us have a harder time being thankful than others do. If that’s the case for you, I feel for you. But let’s not let ourselves get stuck in a bad attitude.
Cultivation
I’ve shared before that I have a terrible bend toward melancholy. Especially when I was a teen I was quite selfish and unthankful. I didn’t appreciate how much my parents loved me. I didn’t appreciate all I was given as a child and the phenomenal education I received. I took for granted the neighborhood I grew up in and all the opportunities to play sports and travel. I ate like a king. But by the time I was 17 I was just a spoiled unthankful punk. So not only was I born with a tendency toward negativity, but I deepened it through cultivation.
When I became a Christian at 21 I realized that it was going to take a lot to pull me out of my ingrained ingratitude and into a thankful heart. It wasn’t natural. I cannot even explain how moody I was in my first years as a Christian. I feel bad for my wife having to deal with me. I’d be flying high with gratitude one day, only to be cast down into a negative mood the next. It took years to level out and to become more consistently grateful. It can be done though.
Self-aware
A good starting place to become a grateful person is to be self-aware. In other words, pay attention to your attitude. Oftentimes negative people don’t think they are negative. Or, they just don’t care. Negative people will even criticize positive people for being phony and fake. And they exalt themselves for being “real and authentic.” Oh brother. Let’s not be like that. Set the standard high for your attitude. Aim to have an attitude like Jesus and settle for nothing less.
What I’m suggesting isn’t easy. Some of us need to come to a point when we say, “You know, I’m just a critical, negative, whiner.” Instead of justifying our temperament, and priding ourselves for our “honesty,” we need to humble ourselves and admit we have a deeply ingrained miserable attitude—and that we desperately need the grace of God to transform us.
On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your attitude of gratitude? Or maybe a better question is—how would those closest to you rate you? I used to be a 3, am now maybe a 6-7–but I want to be a 10!
Renewed mind
Again, I just want to empathize with those who have a very strong propensity towards negativity because of how you are wired, the home environment you were raised in, or years of cultivating selfish ingratitude—or all three of these. It’s funny how we believe that Jesus walked on water, calmed the winds and waves, and raised Lazarus from the dead, but we can’t believe He is able to change our crabby attitude. We believe God created the universe by the word of His mouth, but we just can’t believe He can make us thankful. The grace of God is sufficient my friend!
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2
I want to highlight what is perhaps the greatest way to deepen gratitude: being around people overflowing with gratitude.
Grateful Greg
That brings me back to Greg. Just being around him and hearing his prayers has a way of dissolving my lack of gratitude. Thankfulness has a way of overflowing. Pause for a moment and think about all the people in your life and who you would rate a 9-10 in gratitude. I’m talking about the people who are just so positive in their outlook. It’s not that they never suffer or that they don’t perceive the sufferings of others. They do. But they have a gratitude that is deeply ingrained.
Here’s my advice: get around them. Seek them out and spend time with them. But—and this is important—let them do most of the talking. In other words, don’t ramble on and on about all of your complaints while they quietly listen. Let them talk. Listen and learn. Let their thankful joyful attitude get inside you.
Cousin Nancy
As I write this piece, I’m in Maryland dropping off my daughter for an architecture internship. We are staying with my cousin Nancy who is a perfect example of contagious overflowing gratitude. I’ve known Nancy for a very long time; I attended her wedding when I was a little kid. She used to live in Massachusetts so we saw each other regularly. She loves Jesus and is high on life. It’s not that her life has been easy—she lost her husband many years ago—but she’s been able to hold onto an attitude of unswerving hope. It’s good for me to be around Nancy and just listen to her joyful commentary on all the simple things in life. I always walk away more grateful.
That’s my simple encouragement today. Be around grateful people. You’ll be transformed through association.
A word to thankful souls
I realize this writing today is geared more for those of you who struggle to overflow with thankfulness—like me. But I’d like to end with a word to those of you—like Greg and Nancy—who have an exceptional ability to maintain gratitude. Speak it out! The world, and even the Church, can be so negative that it’s tempting to keep your gratitude party to yourself. In some settings it almost feels uncool to be thankful; it’s more fitting to gripe. But this world needs you. Let your thankfulness shine brightly. When you are at a table with five others who are whining and complaining about the boss, let the light of your gratitude overcome the darkness. We need you.