Gratitude + Grace

I think we would all agree that we want to live a life that pleases God. I know I certainly do! Psalms 50: 23 (TPT) tells us exactly how to do that: “The life that pleases Me is a life lived in the gratitude of grace, always choosing to walk with Me in what is right.”Gratitude and Grace. Two words that we don’t hear much in our world today. Words that aren’t advertised in commercials or magazines, not boasted of in movies or tv programs, and sadly not taught in most of our homes.God’s word is clear--in order to live a life that pleases Him, gratitude and grace must be present in our lives!

Gratitude ~a thankfulness of heart for all that God has done for usGrace ~an awareness of God’s unmerited, unearned, undeserved love and favor over our lives

Both are required of us. Not just gratitude. Not just grace. Gratitude and Grace~hand in hand. Both marked in our lives.And not just in our lives, but in the lives of those around us. Those in our world. We should display our gratitude to others because of who they are to us and our extension of God’s Amazing Grace to those who need it the most.

We all want God’s grace to be evident in our lives, but are we as passionate to extend that same grace to others? To extend the love, forgiveness, mercy, compassion, and hope of God to those we might not even think deserve it? Grace to others that we don’t see eye to eye with? That we disagree with? Those who live their lives differently from how we live?  To those who look different from us, believe different from us… are we as faithful to extend the grace of God to those people as we are to those who live, act, believe, look just like us?

In order for our lives to please God, gratitude and grace are non-negotiable. May gratitude be a continued attitude of our hearts that overflows out of our mouths. May grace be a word that marks us, our hearts, and our lives.May our lives please God-- evident of the gratitude and grace that He so beautifully pours out to us-- and that we, likewise, pour out to the people in our world. A world thirsty for the grace of God.