Do you want to be different? Do you want to rise head and shoulders above the masses?

Be Grateful!

In a culture where entitlement is rampant and everyone and everything is on the dole, you have the opportunity to stand out. If you’ll be grateful.  Want to be a breath of fresh air into your community? Be grateful. (I think you get the point) My fear is that due to the entitlement culture that has been propagated and thus embraced, there are so many that have no idea what it means to be grateful.  We have raised an entire generation who expects something (often for nothing). And this isn’t to speak of their parents and grandparents where they learned from whom they were taught. (I can easily say this, because I know this applies none of you reading!) Seriously, ungratefulness and entitlement are a real problem. But enough about the problem because I think there is a real solution. I’d like to use hands as an extended metaphor for the way a person lives. The actions, lifestyle, attitude, and ideology will all be encompassed in “hands”. There are many people with their hands out.  This would be the entitlement crowd.  Their essence could be encapsulated in the phrases, “What’s in it for me?” or “What do I get?” or “What’s this going to cost me?” Notice the focus? me, Me, ME! When we have an inward focus, infatuated with ourselves and our existence, we have little time for the world around us.  Society generally looks at this crowd as “problem people” and not “solution people”.  The big blue and green ball is filled with problem people.

We need Solution People!

So here are a few Ideas of what it looks like to be grateful hands.

Working Hands

Often the solution to a problem is found it rolling up your sleeves and getting busy. Using the brilliant mind and caring heart that God gave you to reach out and touch someone. A kind look, an open door, or a cup of coffee go a long way in providing help and solutions for hurting people.  Solomon tells us ^“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” in Ecclesiastes 9:10. Don’t do the job or deed partially. Put your whole heart and soul into it.  If we are going to stem the tide of an “entitlement society”, then we have to reach out and show the world around us what it means to have a giving spirit.

Giving Hands

If I am going to imitate Christ, my life must be outwardly and others focused.  Instead of worrying about myself to the point of selfishness (You should take care of yourself), maybe I should allow myself the opportunity to give to others. Jesus, in Matthew 25: 40 says, “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” When I help others and give liberally, I’m not just helping them, I’m sharing Christ’s love with them.  The solution to many of life’s troubles is found in the soul of a giver.

Praying Hands

Many of “our problems” aren’t really ours.  We have hijacked and stolen God’s job.  We have forgotten to rest in His grace and stand on His truth.  I’m not quite sure if we doubt God’s significance or power in our lives, or if it’s simply because we “don’t have time” to seek His face regularly in our lives.  There is peace, rest, hope, joy, grace found in the arms of our big God and He wants to love all over us. In Luke 11:9-10 Jesus tells us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” When we pray in the name of our Father and seek His will for our lives, He will give us exactly what we need. Worry less; pray more.

Praising Hands

“Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord!” Psalm 134:2                                    The choice is yours. You can praise or you can gripe. I say we give all glory and praise to the Lord who has given us all of the riches of His creation to enjoy.  In turn, not only should we praise God, we should praise others.  Obviously not with the same attitude or reverence, but we should show our gratefulness to others for what they have done for us.  You can live life expecting others to do everything for you (and live with grossly unmet expectations) or you can live in perpetual praise and gratitude for the blessings of others. God put people in your life for you to enjoy, not to endure.  Thank God for them and let them know you are thankful for them.

Be the solution. Be grateful. Have Grateful Hands.