What part does gratitude play in my financial decisions?

Hello, my name is Ron Blue, and as we approach the Thanksgiving season and the holiday season, I think it's well to reflect on what part gratitude plays in all of our financial decisions.

You know, in John 3:16, The Word says, "For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son." He demonstrates generosity. The response to His generosity is our thanksgiving; in fact, the whole holiday of Thanksgiving was built around the earlier forefathers of our country wanting to give Our Father thanks for His provision.

I've been looking at the word "generosity," and I realize that generosity and grace go hand in hand. As a matter of fact, you could almost interchange them: "For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). If you substitute the word "generosity": For by God's generosity, I have been saved through faith. And even that is a gift from God.

My favorite verse in the Bible (that I use probably more than any other) is 2 Corinthians 8:9. And it says, "For you know the grace (or the "generosity") of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was very rich, yet He became very poor, so that we through His poverty might become very rich.

The reality is that there's not one thing that I have received while I am abiding here on planet earth that's not a gift from God. So if it's a gift from God, then I need to bring that in to bear on every financial decision that I make, realizing that all that I have is a gift. What an opportunity we have at this time of year to stop and to say, "Lord, I would have nothing apart from you, and I have everything as I look into the eternal future.

What an incredible opportunity we have to give thanks, and that thanksgiving should bear on every financial decision that you make.


Click here for the November 20, 2008 Blog Entry