Gratitude by Cornelius Plantingaنموونە

Day One: What Blocks My Gratitude?

Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Proverbs 1:19, 28:25-28, Deuteronomy 4:29

While there are many ways to get gratitude—from fostering faith in God’s goodness to practical means such as journaling—there are also many ways to block it. Some of these are innocent. People with clinical anxiety or depression or deeply rooted shame may be too troubled to experience gratitude.

Commands, even biblical commands, to be grateful can seem irrelevant and even offensive when directed at the anxious, depressed, or shamed person. Maybe someone can barely get out of bed. How are they going to answer the call to be grateful? The same goes for people with serious diseases or other forms of suffering so overwhelming that gratitude is, at present, hard to come by.

Cynicism about the motives of our benefactors will block gratitude. Like most twisted attitudes, cynicism is a real curse. The cynic blocks their own gratitude and much else, including trust and love.

Self-sufficiency blocks our ability to form gratitude. After all, if I feel obliged or beholden, doesn’t that make me dependent? I want independence. I want rugged individualism. I am resistant to handouts. The trouble is that with these attitudes, gratitude becomes uphill work for me.

Greed also blocks gratitude because it makes me discontent. If I’m never satisfied and always want more, I am unlikely to be grateful for what I already have. Sad to say, greed is contagious. It spreads through whole swaths of society in which people think trying hard to be super rich is normal. The obstacle to gratitude I’m discussing here is not riches but greed for riches. All by itself, wealth may be a blessing or a curse depending on what one does with it; but greed is always a curse when it thwarts contentment and gratitude.

Cynicism. Self-sufficiency. Greed. Apathy. Resentment. Entitlement. So many ways to stop gratitude! You would almost think that the forces of evil have a particular purpose in preventing us from being grateful. Considering all these obstacles to gratitude, it seems a wonder that anybody still has it. And yet many folks do. They thank God, family members, and friends every day. They keep a list of all their blessings and rejoice over them. And they develop antidotes for the sins that block gratitude.

What keeps you from developing a posture of gratitude in your daily life? What antidotes for these obstacles can you imagine? Suppose, with the obstacles removed, you start to experience gratitude. How do you think your life might change?