Bitter or Better?
I'm really enjoying my Pronunciation Clinic classes. My students are such a wonderful, lively bunch and both classes are a real joy to teach. Today's spiritual warm-up question (a handout related to Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday) was:
"Are you truly thankful for life?"
Students then made their own sentences about what they are thankful to God for. It was such a blessing to hear all that the students shared.
The truth is that we, as Christians, must be be careful about the attitude of our hearts and just how much we appreciate all that God has done (AND IS) for us.
The Bible clearly shows that there are 2 main attitudes to have towards God and being thankful for life.
THE WICKED (Those outside of Christ)
"...proud, ungrateful, unholy, without love..." (2 Timothy 3:2)
"Although they know God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him." (Romans 1:21)
THE RIGHTEOUS (Those of us in Christ)
"Make music in your heart to the LORD giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:19)
An earlier chapter from the pronunciation came to mind when we focused on the slight difference in pronunciation between "bitter" and "better" and how to distinguish between the two when listening. I believe this relates back to "a matter of thankfulness" in ones life. Those who are outside of Christ tend to "grow bitter" towards the end of their lives while those who are (TRULY) in Christ tend to "get better" and as the Bible says "shine brighter and brighter as the noon day sun". You can see this in the faces and attitudes of those who have served Christ all their lives and the peace they have when they die VS. the selfish-whiny-child-like attitudes of older bitter non-Christians who have everything but peace.
May God give us the grace to have a heart of gratitude, praise, and thanks for Him and ultimately for Him alone. How can we "assist" God in increasing our hearts and our ability to be thankful?
"I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart." (Psalm 119:32, KJV)
"Are you truly thankful for life?"
Students then made their own sentences about what they are thankful to God for. It was such a blessing to hear all that the students shared.
The truth is that we, as Christians, must be be careful about the attitude of our hearts and just how much we appreciate all that God has done (AND IS) for us.
The Bible clearly shows that there are 2 main attitudes to have towards God and being thankful for life.
THE WICKED (Those outside of Christ)
"...proud, ungrateful, unholy, without love..." (2 Timothy 3:2)
"Although they know God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him." (Romans 1:21)
THE RIGHTEOUS (Those of us in Christ)
"Make music in your heart to the LORD giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:19)
An earlier chapter from the pronunciation came to mind when we focused on the slight difference in pronunciation between "bitter" and "better" and how to distinguish between the two when listening. I believe this relates back to "a matter of thankfulness" in ones life. Those who are outside of Christ tend to "grow bitter" towards the end of their lives while those who are (TRULY) in Christ tend to "get better" and as the Bible says "shine brighter and brighter as the noon day sun". You can see this in the faces and attitudes of those who have served Christ all their lives and the peace they have when they die VS. the selfish-whiny-child-like attitudes of older bitter non-Christians who have everything but peace.
May God give us the grace to have a heart of gratitude, praise, and thanks for Him and ultimately for Him alone. How can we "assist" God in increasing our hearts and our ability to be thankful?
"I will run the way of thy commandments when thou shalt enlarge my heart." (Psalm 119:32, KJV)
posted by Andrew Brown at 8:26 PM
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