Grateful to the Core

I was taught a little rhyme as a child. It went like this:

Thank you and please
Are two little keys
And when you use these
You may do as you please.

Notice how gratefulness is offered as a means to an end. If I really want something, I should act grateful. Selfishness, not gratefulness, is at the core.

That's a struggle for me. Sometimes gratefulness becomes a performance to keep others happy, an act to hide my shame, or to get what I want. But when I put on a facade, my heart is hardened. And then I'm easily embittered when I don't get what my good performance deserves.

Everywhere in the Bible, gratefulness is linked with Jesus. What He has done for us is indescribable and unbelievable. What He has won for us is imperishable and inestimable. No matter what we're going through, He's been through worse. And He did it so that we wouldn't have to. As we put our hope in Jesus and contemplate all that He's done for us, there's no room left for selfishness. Why would I hold anything back from the One who has given His all for me?

Although I regularly find myself whining and griping about problems, pains, and people, I am powerfully brought back to humility and gratefulness when I remember how much I've been forgiven and at what cost. For someone like me who is being healed of gratefulness-as-an-act, those moment of true gratefulness-to-the-core are precious beyond words.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9

Notice how Peter does not just command us to "be thankful." It's not a legalistic, performance-oriented requirement. Instead he's saying, "When life stinks, remember that Jesus died for you!" When we worship Jesus in the middle of our pain, He empowers us with peace and joy that are beyond our natural ability (which is the same empowerment He received from His Father when He worshiped in the midst of His suffering).