"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving."
Psalms 69:30
We really don't give God enough credit. We go throughout our lives, taking his love and the amazing blessings that he has given us for granted... sometimes we're even resentful of him rather than being awed and thankful. And I get that, and think it is probably normal to go through that in life. We don't always see the value in our earthly parents or families either. Thankfully, we usually grow out of that stage once we see how hard life really is, and how amazing of a job our parents really did, despite challenges. With God it is harder, probably because it is somewhat harder to see his perspective. :) I do think though that it is valuable, and probably necessary to our long-term spiritual well-being, to make that effort to understand where God is coming from. Not for his sake, although I am certain that he loves us and wants us to reunite with him, but for ours.
They have those 12 step programs for various addictions, and truthfully, we probably need one for sinning in general. I don't know the steps by heart, but I do know that the first couple are basically admitting that you have a problem that you can't solve yourself, and believing that God can, and will, help you to solve it. Those are some amazing steps, and ones that are needed every day of our lives, not just in the midst of any specific addiction (though they are definitely valuable there, I am not trying to diminish that). Life is a problem that we can't solve ourselves, and church is our Sinners Anonymous group. God can, and will, help us to solve our problems if we turn to him... and part of that turning to him means learning about him and seeing things his way.
Today, and every day, let's set aside a little bit of time to learn about God, through reading the scriptures, praying, having a gospel discussion--really, anything helps. As we learn more about God, our hearts will be more and more filled with thanks (and perhaps songs: How Great Thou Art is a good one) and praise for him, for he truly is our creator and our Savior, who didn't only give us everything in the beginning, but who continues every day, still giving us everything, and pouring down blessings. Rather than just looking at society's filter of all the bad things we can spew, as fast as we can, let's learn about God, and hope, and learn to see those good things all around us. Let's give thanks, and in our joy, maybe even sing about it. Why not? :)
Psalms 69:30
We really don't give God enough credit. We go throughout our lives, taking his love and the amazing blessings that he has given us for granted... sometimes we're even resentful of him rather than being awed and thankful. And I get that, and think it is probably normal to go through that in life. We don't always see the value in our earthly parents or families either. Thankfully, we usually grow out of that stage once we see how hard life really is, and how amazing of a job our parents really did, despite challenges. With God it is harder, probably because it is somewhat harder to see his perspective. :) I do think though that it is valuable, and probably necessary to our long-term spiritual well-being, to make that effort to understand where God is coming from. Not for his sake, although I am certain that he loves us and wants us to reunite with him, but for ours.
They have those 12 step programs for various addictions, and truthfully, we probably need one for sinning in general. I don't know the steps by heart, but I do know that the first couple are basically admitting that you have a problem that you can't solve yourself, and believing that God can, and will, help you to solve it. Those are some amazing steps, and ones that are needed every day of our lives, not just in the midst of any specific addiction (though they are definitely valuable there, I am not trying to diminish that). Life is a problem that we can't solve ourselves, and church is our Sinners Anonymous group. God can, and will, help us to solve our problems if we turn to him... and part of that turning to him means learning about him and seeing things his way.
Today, and every day, let's set aside a little bit of time to learn about God, through reading the scriptures, praying, having a gospel discussion--really, anything helps. As we learn more about God, our hearts will be more and more filled with thanks (and perhaps songs: How Great Thou Art is a good one) and praise for him, for he truly is our creator and our Savior, who didn't only give us everything in the beginning, but who continues every day, still giving us everything, and pouring down blessings. Rather than just looking at society's filter of all the bad things we can spew, as fast as we can, let's learn about God, and hope, and learn to see those good things all around us. Let's give thanks, and in our joy, maybe even sing about it. Why not? :)
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