When Thanksgiving Doesn't Come Naturally

God calls us to be a thankful people. However, more often than not we’re like the Israelites—a complaining, grumpy people. If it’s raining, we complain that we can’t go outside. If the sun shines too many days in a row, we complain of the dryness of the ground. During the summer we complain of the heat and during the winter we complain of the cold. At the moment of inconvenience we make a growl of sorts and huff out a complaint. Sometimes we grit our teeth and force our lips into something like a smile and say, “Just look at the positive side of things!” (as if that’s what a truly thankful heart would produce).

Thanksgiving doesn’t come naturally to our hearts. It appears as the most easy of prayers, yet it’s often the one we neglect the most. If we collected all our complaints and praises in a jar, we might be shocked by which one bubbled up to the top. Why is this? Tim Keller explains in his book Prayer that according to Romans 1 ingratitude is our sinful disposition and likewise the root of all sin. He writes,

Cosmic ingratitude is living in the illusion that you are spiritually self-sufficient. It is taking credit for something that was a gift. It is the belief that you know best how to live, that you have the power and ability to keep your life on the right path and protect yourself from danger. That is a delusion, and a dangerous one. We did not create ourselves, and we can’t keep our lives going one second without his upholding power. Yet we hate that knowledge, Paul says, and we repress it.

How do we grow in thanksgiving when it doesn’t come naturally? How do we work against this sinful disposition in our hearts?

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