#gratitude

In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ. ↗

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#fellowship #god #gratitude #thankfulness #experience

So much about living life, to me, is about humility and gratitude. And I've tried very hard to have those qualities and be that person and I'm just so disappointed in myself that I allowed it to slip. ↗

— Katherine Heigl

#allowed #disappointed #gratitude #hard #humility

If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans. ↗

— James Herriot

#being #better #better off #feel #gratitude

If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it. ↗

— Lyndon B. Johnson

#also #created #future #future generations #generations

Ingratitude is the essence of vileness. ↗

— Immanuel Kant

#ingratitude

Our holiday food splurge was a small crate of tangerines, which we found ridiculously thrilling after an eight-month abstinence from citrus.... Lily hugged each one to her chest before undressing it as gently as a doll. Watching her do that as she sat cross-legged on the floor one morning in pink pajamas, with bliss lighting her cheeks, I thought: Lucky is the world, to receive this grateful child. Value is not made of money, but a tender balance of expectation and longing. ↗

— Barbara Kingsolver

#gratitude #food

A little "thank you" that you will say to someone for a "little favour" shown to you is a key to unlock the doors that hide unseen "greater favours". Learn to say "thank you" and why not? ↗

— Israelmore Ayivor

#favour #favours #food-for-thought #grateful #gratitude

Ingratitude to God does not rely only on our refusal to give the verbal thanksgiving due to Him, but also recides in our inability to appreciate his gifts and potentials in us by leaving them untapped. ↗

— Israelmore Ayivor

#appreciation #food-for-thought #gifts #god #grateful

Thank God I have seen an orange sky with purple clouds. How easy it is to forget that we have the privilege of living in God's art gallery. ↗

— Erica Goros

#beauty #god #gratitude #inspiration #love

Gratitude is the real treasure God wants us to find, because it isn't the pot of gold but the rainbow that colors our world. ↗

— Richelle E. Goodrich

#color #gold #gratitude #rainbow #richelle