In my most recent post I wrote about the difficulties we create for ourselves when we mentally divide up our lives into "Christian" and "other" activities. The result is a constant struggle to find time amongst the "other" activities to do the "Christian" things we think we ought to be doing, leading to frustration, weariness and resentment.
What I didn't touch on was the whole idea that we somehow 'owe' God something in return for his goodness to us. This might seem quite obvious at first glance, but it runs counter to the whole concept of grace. We did nothing to deserve God's love, and we can do nothing to repay it. We can only gratefully accept it.
If there's any sense of 'ought' or 'should' about our response to God's goodness, then it's not gratitude that we're experiencing but anxiety. We're anxious to show God how grateful we are in case...what? In case he takes his gifts away again? In case he doesn't give us anything more? In case he punishes us for our ingratitude? If we think this way, even subconsciously, then we've not understood grace.
Please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I'm not suggesting we grab everything God gives us and never give him a thought. True gratitude inevitably wells up into acts of love and service towards the giver as well as those around us. But there's no 'ought' or 'should' about it. It's spontaneous, heartfelt, nothing can stop it.
Telling someone that they ought to demonstrate their gratitude to God is like telling a child that they ought to write a nice thankyou letter to Aunt Mavis for the Christmas present she sent. It might produce a polite child, or it might produce stubborn resistance, but it won't produce any love between the child and Aunt Mavis.
Berating ourselves or each other for our lack of gratitude towards God is pointless, even counter-productive. If our response to God's grace isn't overwhelming gratitude expressed in love towards him and other people, then let's remind ourselves of what he has done for us. Let's strive towards a deeper understanding of what it means to be a child of God. Let's focus on the gifts and the Giver rather than the quality of our response.
