Developing an Attitude of Gratitude

I have not always been the most grateful person ,as a matter of fact I had an attitude of entitlement.I thought everything I have is because I deserved it or people owed it to me.Developing an attitude of gratitude really opens up a whole new dimension in our spiritual walk.When we learn to be grateful,we see God in a whole new way,we are less critical of our failures and more aware of the work Christ is doing in our lives.We are able to look back and say "wow God has brought me very far".

It took me a very long time to realise that in essence I had a very selfish nature,if something did not benefit me or it meant sacrifice on my behalf I would simply not do it.My selfishness blinded me to how much others have done for me and therefore I never showed gratitude.I felt entitled to receive their services.

When I started drawing closer to Christ,He revealed this spirit of entitlement to me,I must say it came as a big shock and I simply could not believe that I never knew I was selfish.But knowing something is a whole lot different from doing something about it.See God revealed this to me but I simply nodded and did not make much changes in my attitude.When things in my life went wrong I blamed God, life and everyone else that seemed fitting for my failures.I may not have said it out loud but it was in my heart.

I have had a very rocky spiritual journey in the last two years,but God made all things work out for my good.These hard times cultivated an attitude of gratitude in me that I never had before.I became grateful for every path God led me on,I became grateful to my mother for her sacrifices and patience with me,I became grateful for my sisters, that they where my pillars of strength (and finance).I looked at my life and realised all the time I spend complaining was rather and insult to what God has done in my life.I even became grateful for the job I prayed  for (but ended up despising) and realised that God has blessed me abundantly.

This new attitude of gratitude opened my eyes to see every good and perfect thing comes from my Father.

So I dedicate this post to everyone that I am grateful to:My mother, my sisters, my friends(who carried the brunt of my complaining the most),my pastor (who cared enough to be brutally honest with me and whose council steered me back to the destiny God has for me),to my boss (that pushed me beyond my limits and thus revealing in me a fighting spirit I never knew I had) and to everyone that has ever crossed my path,because whether good or bad you tough me something and for that I am grateful.

And the one person I am most grateful to is God (and no its not a cliche),for sending every person across my path that has changed  my life and tough me something,for knowing the very depth of my heart and still love me passionately,for being patient when I was rebellious, for being understanding when I was confused,for being my friend when I felt alone,for being everything I will EVER need.There are not enough words to express my gratitude,but I tried.