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Gratitude

It is no secret our country suffers from severe ingratitude. We are always wanting something more, newer, or better. We raise our children to be materialistic and high maintenance. We are deep in debt or bankrupt. We consider ourselves poor if we only have one car and a regular cell phone instead of a smartphone. We celebrate Christmas--the season of buying and getting--before Thanksgiving is even in sight. And the only time we momentarily wake up from our selfish lives to be reminded of gratitide is when something tragic occurs: death, natural disasters, crime, and the like. This quickly passes and we go on with our lives, complaining bitterly or wishing wistfully about what we don't have.

But the kind of gratitude we show matters too. There are different degrees of gratitude: there is the obvious gesture of saying thank you, the nicer gesture of doing something in return, and the heavenly attitude of constantly living a thankful life. As President Monson stated in General Conference of October 2010, "My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven." It is the last that Heavenly Father asks of us when He commands us to be thankful.

How do we "live with gratitude ever in our hearts"? We change our attitude. We understand it is not enough just to say or show gratitude. We notice the blessings in everything. We are content with what we have, happy that we have so much, and optimistic of righteous desires we may get in the future. We focus on what we do have and what we can do with it, such as use the blessings Heavenly Father so bountifully gives us to bless others bountifully too.

President Monson advised, "Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His words. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude." And by so doing, we are touching heaven because we are living as Christ did.

Challenge: Live with gratitude ever in your heart.
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Anonymous said…
I am so grateful daily for my blessings- I am especially grateful for life love and family and God. I am so grateful for YOU-DAD
December 8, 2011 at 1:20 AM
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