Gratitude: Creating Out of the Pieces

Forgiveness unlocks gratitude, and gratitude unleashes love. Forgiveness and gratitude are inseparable. When we receive forgiveness, we grow in gratefulness. Our ability to receive forgiveness is directly related to our willingness to give it [Colossians 3:13-14]. When we are grateful, we forgive freely. When we are grateful, we are not bound to grudges or vengeance. Gratitude enables us to be generous with love.

In the same way that gratitude is intertwined with forgiveness, a crushed spirit is often perpetuated by bitterness. We cannot remain embittered and find wholeness [Ephesians 4:31-32]. When someone desires forgiveness, it our gift to give out of the generosity of our spirits. Even if someone does not desire our forgiveness, it is critical for us to be free from the bitterness that will ultimately enslave us.

Gratitude and forgiveness are inseparable, as are ungratefulness and bitterness. When we are grateful, we experience our lives with a healthy optimism. When we lack gratitude, we move toward pessimism. An ungrateful heart always sees what's wrong with life. The longer we live without gratitude, the more embittered we become. Bitterness creates an illusion of control and power. It is an attempt to hold someone prisoner to an experience or action in the past, but the reality is that our bitterness traps no one but ourselves.

Gratitude fuels optimism and inspires hope. The quality of hope can only exist in relationship to the future [Romans 8:24-25]. When hope is directed toward the past, it becomes despair. This is one reason why embittered people ultimately cannot be encouraged into a new frame of thinking. Until we are willing to let go of the past, we are not ready to take hold of the future.

Grace both receives and gives forgiveness without measure. To receive the grace of God and yet treat others ungraciously is an act of wickedness. God's expectation is that we get rid of all bitterness, rage, brawling, slander and malice and "be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us" [Ephesians 4:32].

Bitterness always feels justified. Yet instead of bitterness, Jesus chose forgiveness. He calls us to do the same not only for the sake of others, but also for the salvation of our own souls. When we are free from bitterness, we are free to pursue the lives God dreams for us.

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to defile many" [Hebrews 12:14-15]. When we embrace bitterness we reject grace. Bitterness destroys our relationships, impairs our judgment, skews our perspective and distorts our memories.

Gratitude generates optimism. The grace of God not only frees us from sin but also from pessimism. When we trust God with our futures, hope naturally abounds. Gratitude changes our perspectives about life. We see the future, experience the present and remember the past in dramatically different ways. Remember the good and the good will grow.

When we realize that life is a gift and we are overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude, when we fill every moment with praise for God's goodness and thanks for His generosity .... we then will find wholeness and our hearts will increase in their capacity to experience and give love.