Can You, Should You Be Thankful for That?
Excerpt:
Christians sometimes quote 1 Thessalonians 5:18, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. They may emphasize “In every thing…” and say that we don’t have to give thanks for everything. Yet the Spirit of God clearly tells us through Paul in another place that we should be thankful for all things.
Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
A friend of mine was posting a “31 days of gratitude challenge” in October on Facebook. One of her questions was “What pain are you grateful for?” I had to honestly answer that I couldn’t say that I was thankful for my anxiety disorder, but that it has taught me some important lessons for which I’m thankful. I also haven’t learned to be thankful for migraines, although I am thankful for the sympathy I’ve learned for others through them. But, this shows my limitations, not that it is impossible to give always thanks for all things. I should be thankful for that pain, despite its hardship. Anything that pushes us closer to Jesus Christ and causes us to cast ourselves more wholly upon Him is something to be thankful for, unpleasant as that seems. Like contentment, it is something that we generally have to learn.
QUERIDA HERMANA: ESPERO QUE TENGA UN MUY BENDECIDO DOMINGO, DISFRUTANDO DE LA PAZ DE JESUCRISTO. ESTOY LEYENDO SU COMENTARIO SOBRE DAR GRACIAS EN TODO Y POR TODO, QUE DIFICIL ES A VECES, HAY TANTAS TRIBULACIONES, ALGUN QUE OTRO PROBLEMA PUEDE SER FINANCIERO O FAMILIAR, HAY ENFERMEDADES, IMPIOS QUE TE PERSIGUEN Y INSULTAN CUANDO LE HABLAS LA VERDAD DEL EVANGELIO. LE CUENTO LO QUE ME HA PASADO ULTIMAMENTE, LEYENDO UN BLOG PUBLICARON ALGO SOBRE LA NAVIDAD QUE PRONTO VA A LLEGAR, HABLANDO DE LOS REGALOS, DECORACIONES, SANTA ECT. YO HICE MI COMENTARIO POR LO QUE DICE EN LA BIBLIA, SABEMOS QUE NO ES UNA CELEBRACION BIBLICA, QUE ES PAGANA Y LLENA DE IDOLATRIA, RECIBI UN MONTON DE INSULTOS, AGRAVIOS HACIA MI PERSONA, REALMENTE ME SENTI MOLESTA, OFENDIDA, PERO ME ACORDE QUE AL SEÑOR JESUS LO MATARON EN LA CRUZ POR ANDAR EN LA VERDAD DE SU PADRE Y EL SE ENTREGO SIN HABRIR SU BOCA, CUANTAS HUMILLACIONES HERMANA, PERO NO ME IMPORTA, YA QUE SI VIVO, VIVO PARA CRISTO Y SI MUERO, MUERO PARA CRISTO, ANDO EN LA VERDAD, NADIE ME HARA CAMBIAR DE PENSAMIENTO, LOS VERDADEROS HIJOS DE DIOS, SON PERSEGUIDOS TODO EL TIEMPO POR LOS MUNDANOS O POR LOS QUE DICEN SER HIJOS DE DIOS. UNA VEZ LE COMENTE A USTED QUE NO CELEBRO ESTA FIESTA PAGANA PORQUE NO ES BIBLICA, Y ME AGRADO SABER QUE USTED TAMPOCO LA FESTEJA, ES CASI IMPOSIBLE ENCONTRAR A ALGUIEN QUE DIGA: LA NAVIDAD NO ES BIBLICA. SATANAS LE LAVA LA MENTE A LAS PERSONAS, HACIENDOLE CREER CUALQUIER COSA, QUE TRISTE, A VECES TENEMOS DISCUCIONES CON HERMANOS POR COSAS QUE NO SON CIERTAS Y SE AFERRAN A ESAS MENTIRAS. POR ESO SIEMPRE DOY GRACIAS A DIOS POR TODO Y EN TODO, AUNQUE ULTIMAMENTE ME CUESTA VIVIR RODEADA DE IMPIOS EN LA CIUDAD DONDE VIVO, NOS PERSIGUEN CON SUS MALDADES, PERO SIGO A LA META, AL SUPREMO LLAMAMIENTO QUE ES CRISTO JESUS. ESPERO QUE PRONTO ME PUEDA CONTESTAR QUERIDA. DIOS LA BENDIGA RICAMENTE.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. I am glad that you are persevering in thanking God in everything. Persecutions is a hard thing to give thanks for.
ReplyDeleteI understand how people are very hardened against the fact that Christmas is not a biblical holiday. It has seemed to me recently that some people are becoming more angry with those of us who do not celebrate. I am thinking that maybe I should write something about it.
GRACIAS HERMANA POR LA RESPUESTA SINCERA. COMO DICE EL APOSTOL PABLO: MUCHOS TIENEN LA MENTE CAUTERIZADA. LA GENTE SE ENOJA, CUANDO HABLAMOS LA VERDAD, SOLO LO QUE ES BIBLICO, Y NOS ACUSAN DE MENTIROSOS, SOBERBIOS, Y QUE SOMOS PERSONAS NO GRATA COMO ME DIJO LA SEÑORA REGINA DEL BLOG: KLEIN KEEPER AT HOME, ELLA ES MENONITA, CREE EN JESUS, PERO ME HA INSULTADO Y MUCHO, Y OTROS QUE LEEN SU BLOG TAMBIEN HAN SALIDO EN SU DEFENSA, JAMAS LA INSULTE O AGRAVIADO, SOLO DIJE LA VERDAD. ESPERO QUE PRONTO PUBLIQUE. BENDICIONES HERMANA.
ReplyDeleteAna Cuneo, something strange has happened in recent years in the U.S. Because the world has become "sensitive" to people who do not celebrate Christmas (because they do not love Jesus and are of other religions), some believers here have become very hostile to anyone who does not observe that holiday. They have been angry over many little and foolish things, saying that the world is belittling Jesus because they do not say, "Merry Christmas," or they do not allow a Christmas tree, or they do not allow a nativity scene, and many other things. We know that many of these things are not even in the Bible and are not honoring to Christ, but too many Christians have taken these things to be an insult toward Christianity. Because of that they sometimes lash out rudely toward Christians who do not celebrate. Because they do not accept or do not understand our reasons, some of them think in their own minds that we do not love Jesus because we do not celebrate His nativity on December 25th. I had one lady almost tell me that I do not love Jesus because I do not observe that day as His nativity. It made me sad because she is a friend. Because her mind was darkened with this lie that has come to us for so long, mostly through the Roman Catholic church, she could not understand or even respect my belief.
DeleteQUE TRISTE HERMANA, ¿DICEN QUE NO AMAMOS A JESUS? SI ES POR EL, POR LA VERDAD UNICA, QUE HABLAMOS TODAS ESTAS COSAS.¡¡¡¡ GRACIAS POR CONTESTAR.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's difficult to give thanks all the time. But maybe you are on to something... that if we can pull back from the things that we don't like and aren't grateful for, that we can learn to be grateful for what we learn because of them. thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi, Karen. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I like to think of it as adding tools to our life toolbox. :-)
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