WEDNESDAY’S WORD – GRATITUDE- 11/23/16 – Sadell Bradley – New Life Covenant Cincinnati

GRATITUDE is the quality of being thankful. This week, gratitude changed my outlook. I was sharing data similar to this 2010 study by G. William Domhoff of the University of California concerning wealth inequality in the United states. It shows that the top 20% of Americans hold the vast majority of the country’s wealth and net worth, while the bottom 80% struggle. The top 1% own over 40% of the nation’s wealth, and the top .1% of that one percent hold the real power (Buffet, Gates, etc.).  As I shared the information, the faces of class members ranged from shocked through depressed to determined. We also realized that some of the other things we’re fighting over like race might actually be a distraction as most of us are in a similar boat, but I digress.

It’s hard to be grateful when you’re at the bottom of the totem pole. That realization normally brings a sense of sadness and frustration.  But then, I told them that over half of the world’s population exists on $2 per day or less! Even someone who lives at the poverty level in the United States is richer than most of the people in the world. We have readily available food, clothing, shelter, hot running water, and various means of transportation. So when Jesus and Paul address the rich in Scripture…they’re talking about US! Don’t believe me? Check where your income or wealth stands on this website: GLOBAL RICH LIST  

Now, all of a sudden, from this vantage point; we’re NOT at the bottom…we’re at the top! Oh, My! What many of us spend on the holidays, personal grooming, a night out, a sporting event, vacation, golf clubs, a flat-screen, game-boy, cell phone, shoes or purse…could change the trajectory of someone’s family tree forever! So, I decided to commit again to use my blessings for God’s glory through intentional acts of financial kindness. What about you?

Paul framed gratitude this way, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.”  (Phil 4:12-13) Didn’t know that was the context of that verse, did you? It’s crazy to grasp that we can be both poor and rich at the same time!  Just goes to show…It is not happiness that brings us gratitude, it is gratitude that brings us happiness.