This Thanksgiving, I embrace my Christian privilege

“A grateful heart is one that sees through the eyes of faith the blessings God has poured out on others, and then praises Him for it, rather than curses Him for not giving it to us instead. A thankful soul is one whose perspective is calibrated on eternal things, and therefore recognizes the unfathomable privilege God has gifted to all who follow Him.”

(Peter Heck – Disrn) I do a lot of complaining; far more than I should.

I don’t mean “complaining” in the sense of writing essays critical of certain ideologies, actions, or behavior. There’s a rather large distinction to be made between critical, reasoned thought and discontented complaining. The former is something we all should do regularly in order to embrace what is good and shun what is evil. The latter is the manifestation of a dangerous, soul-eating self-centeredness that far too many of us indulge regularly.

  • It’s the prideful belief that we are always overworked and underpaid.
  • It’s the envious conclusion that we’d be on easy street if we’d have gotten the breaks that “those people” got.
  • It’s the dissatisfied conviction that we are entitled to the resources, capital, affection, or blessings of another.
  • It’s the arrogant certainty that my way always seems to be the right way.
  • It’s the dehumanizing condescension exhibited when we determine investing in another person is an unproductive use of our time.

I battle those demons of human nature just like everyone else, and as a Christian, I desperately want to defeat them. Unsurprisingly, in His divine providence, God has provided me the tool to do exactly that. It’s the very spirit we celebrate today – gratitude and thankfulness. Gratitude is the antithesis of complaint; thankfulness the antidote to our seemingly perpetual cultural mindset of grievance.

A grateful heart is one that sees through the eyes of faith the blessings God has poured out on others, and then praises Him for it, rather than curses Him for not giving it to us instead. A thankful soul is one whose perspective is calibrated on eternal things, and therefore recognizes the unfathomable privilege God has gifted to all who follow Him.  View article →