Wearing Gratitude in Awe of Jesus’ Love for Us
We walked into the humid, simple room slightly overwhelmed but excited. A few hundred hesitant faces and questioning eyes looked back at us.
We searched for one particular brown-haired girl in the sea of precious faces. She timidly stepped out and slowly walked toward us; we were finally united with Liza, our sponsor child.
My family had traveled to Honduras to meet Liza, our special pen pal. After a quick, slightly awkward embrace, she nervously sat down on the floor next to us.
We chatted for a few minutes and then we gave Liza a gift: a black and white cotton dress covered with pink flowers. She gently took the gift from us, jumped up, and ran out of the room holding the dress.
My daughter looked surprised, “Where did she go mom? Do you think she liked it?” We didn’t have to wait long to get our answers.
Within a few minutes, Liza returned wearing a beautiful smile and her new floral dress. The dress fit perfectly.
But it wasn’t the modest dress that captured our attention, we were touched by her sense of pride and gratitude. It was humbling.
Bursting with gratitude
Her gratefulness overshadowed the small, welcoming gift we gave her. Despite her circumstances, she was bursting with thankfulness.
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
Her reaction to our small token of friendship had a huge impact on me. I began to wonder if this type of open gratitude oozed forth from my heart. Had I gotten desensitized to the generosity of God’s love for me?
Authentic heartfelt gratitude is powerful and unfortunately rare.
A few lessons on gratitude came from our encounter with Liza:
1. She was humbled by the gift.
Humility reduces our self-importance and reminds us of our need for a savior.
2. Her countenance changed from awkward and unsure to confident. She embraced the realization that she was loved enough to receive a gift from someone she never met.
Jesus offers the ultimate gift of salvation to everyone regardless of where we have been or what we have done. We are the beloved children of God which births confidence in our identity.
3. She was so delighted by her gift she wanted everyone to see and share in its beauty.
Gratitude for the great gift of Christ should propel us to shine His light of love on everyone we meet.
Open devotion
Liza’s expression of gratitude reminds me of the bible character who openly demonstrated her love and devotion toward Jesus in Luke 7:36-47.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.
Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love . . .”
In appreciation for Jesus’ love and gift of eternal life my hope is to wear gratitude and pour out love as a form of bold allegiance that I want others to see and experience for themselves.
Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God, the Creator of the heavenly lights, who does not change . . .
James 1:17 GNT
Meet Mary Rooney Armand
Mary Rooney Armand is the creator and writer for the faith-based blog ButterflyLiving.org. Mary has also written a Christian book, titled Identity, Understanding and Accepting Who I am in Christ, available on Amazon. Mary teaches retreats, leads small groups, directed Kids Hope USA, a mentoring program for children, worked in marketing and sales, and has led mission trips to Honduras. Mary is a life coach and has a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and an MBA. She and her wonderful husband Cory live in Louisiana with their four children and two dogs!
Where to find her . . .
Begin Within is a series to inspire a year-round lifestyle of gratitude that will impact not only your own life, but the lives of your neighbors as well. Gratitude is a theme we talk about often around here because it ties so closely into other missional living rhythms. Practicing gratitude reminds to keep our hearts soft and expectant and our eyes open. Therefore, the more we embrace gratitude, the easier it becomes to truly see our neighbors and where we can join what God is already doing in our neighborhoods.
If you would like to contribute to Begin Within, you can find the submission guidelines here.
Creating Ripples
If you would like to cultivate rhythms in addition to gratitude that will empower you live on mission in your neighborhood, check out Cultivating a Missional Life: A 30-Day Devotional to Gently Help You Open Your Heart, Home, and Life to Your Neighbors. This small book will help you make a big impact in your neighborhood as you learn to let missional living flow from the inside out. Get the 30-day missional living challenge free when you purchase the book.
