My dad has a little desk-plaque that says on it "gratitude is the attitude". I definitely agree with that quote, and in fact the Lord does too. To the Prophet Joseph Smith, He revealed "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." (Doctrine and Covenants: 78:19)
When the Lord says "all things", how much is "all"? Does He really want us to be grateful for even the "negative" things that happen to us? The short answer, yes!
What I realized the other day is that we always hear about being grateful for the things we have been given (when I say "things" I don't just mean material possessions), instead of pouting about what you haven't been given. That's kind of like "the cup is half-full" analogy. But the Lord never intended us to have a half-full cup, but a cup that "runneth over" (Psalms 23:5) . So what I learned is that instead of just thanking Him for everything we have, it is equally as important or even more important to thank Him for everything you don't have as well! Think about it, can you imagine how spoiled rotten we would be if He gave us everything we ever wanted or if He was a "push-over"? He gives and withholds things from us for our benefit (2 Nephi 26:24), even when we really want something, because He knows what's best for us better than we do. In reality, there is really no such thing as God giving a "curse" because any "curse" He gives is still for our benefit! Try this principle of thanking the Lord for everything you have AND don't have. It can be pretty fun and puts you in a good mood :)
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ReplyDeleteI love how you talked about that we weren't meant to have a cup half empty OR half full- God intended for us to have a cup that runneth over! I've never thought of it that way and I love when I'm enlightened and can see something with a new perspective! Thank you! :)
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