There is an adage in Yoruba that says: There is no one that God has not done anything for, except those who wants to say their own isn’t enough or what God did for them is not as much as their neighbors. And mindset such as this one is how ingratitude starts. INGRATITUDE is a mindset that believes that God has not done anything for us or He has not done as much as He did for our neighbors.

 

There are a number of things that the Bible revealed to us that leads to becoming reprobate in one’s mind and it would shock you to know that INGRATITUDE is one of them. Being ungrateful or ingratitude is subtle, it looks harmless, but God does not condone it in whatever form. If you open your Bibles to Romans 1:18-21, the Bible says:

 

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

 

From here, we can see that GRATITUDE is a major constituent of our understanding and worship of God. Again, if we turn our Bibles to Colossians 3:15-17, Paul wrote and said:

 

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

It is a lie from the pit of hell to think that there is nothing to be thankful for. When we choose the posture of INGRATITUDE to God, what we are simply saying is that God is not responsible for us and that we have been responsible for ourselves. What we are doing is to take God away from the equation of our being. And when we do this, we are simply tending towards reprobation.

 

INGRATITUDE is one of the many signs that would characterize this end time. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, it says:

 

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

 

Here, Paul was saying we should turn away from ungrateful people. Why? Because there are always consequences for not being grateful. So that you don’t partake of the consequence upon ungrateful people, Paul said we should turn away from such people.

 

In one account in Numbers 14:26-30, 36-38. It showed us a vivid account of how God would not waste His time and resources on people who are ungrateful. See what the Bible says:

 

“And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²⁷ “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me. ²⁸ Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: ²⁹ The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. ³⁰ Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.” ³⁶ Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, ³⁷ those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the Lord. ³⁸ But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land.”

 

Numbers 21:4-6, the Bible showed us another account of what came upon those who were ungrateful. It says:

 

“Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. ⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses (it was a group action against God and not individual and that is why they also perished as a group): “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.”

 

CAUSES OF INGRATITUDE

 

Apostle Paul showed us in 1 Corinthians 10:1-12 five things that are the root-cause of ingratitude. The Bible says:

 

“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, ² all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, ³ all ate the same spiritual food, ⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. ⁵ But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. ⁶ Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.”

 

The first cause of ingratitude is LUST! Lust is a strong desire to possess certain things that are currently out of your reach to the point that it makes you to disdain what you currently have been given or provided with. Apostle Paul asked the Corinthian folks in 1 Corinthians 4:7 that what is it they have that has not been given them by God or received from Him? So, the more you are looking forward to those things; the more it makes you less appreciative of the things that you have currently.

 

Verse 7 says: “And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” There was no regard for God. The people would rather choose amusement and pleasure rather than choose to be grateful to God. Instead of them to be thoughtful and muse about what God has done for them and where He has brought them out from, they would rather engage in pleasurable activities.

 

Verse 8 says: “Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell…” Many of them were not grateful to God for their spouses. They would rather choose to commit sexual immorality with another man or woman than appreciate God for their husbands or wives. So, engaging in sexual immorality is a sign that you are not grateful to God for your spouse.

 

Verse 9-10 says: “nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; ¹⁰ nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.” How did they tempt Christ? They tempted Christ by striking Him. God spoke to Moses, don’t strike the rock, just point your rod at it, and water would flow out for them to drink. But the man Moses struck the rock instead, and that was the end of his assignment with the children of Israel. God took him out. They also complained, as we have examined earlier. God does not entertain murmuring and complain. The only thing that God entertains is gratitude, thanksgiving. That is why the Bible says we should enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with Praise (Psalm 100:4).

 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE ARE GRATEFUL TO GOD?

 

#1. There is Multiplication

When we thank God for what we have, God multiplies it. And this was the principles that Jesus taught us when He multiplied five loaves of bread and two fishes to feed five thousand men, beside women and children. When we give God thanks for the little, God multiplies it and it becomes more than enough (John 6:1-12, Luke 9:12-16, Mark 6:35-44).

 

#2. There is Multiplication and Glorification [Jeremiah 30:18-19]

 

“Thus says the Lord:

‘Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob’s tents,
And have mercy on his dwelling places;
The city shall be built upon its own mound,
And the palace shall remain according to its own plan.
¹⁹ Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving
And the voice of those who make merry;
I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish;
I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small.”

 

Gratitude to God is the acknowledgement of every good thing that He has done for us in anticipation of other good things that He will do for us. If you read the book of Genesis 1, you would discover that each time God acknowledged that what He has created was good, He simply went ahead to create another thing that is good. You cannot be grateful to God always and not see good things; you would always experience it. And I pray that God would help us to maintain a posture of gratitude all the days of our lives in Jesus’ name

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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