Thankfulness Leads to Gospel-shaped Relationships
As soon as you are thankful, your human relationships get healthier because they are shaped by faith. You become more dependent on God and less demanding of others.
Often we are demanding and judgmental with others, fearful and easily hurt because we are controlled by our relationships with people, instead of focusing first on our relationship with God. We always have to start with the Lord and His redemptive purposes before we think about the people in a particular situation. If you can understand God's good purposes for you, what you expect of people and what you fear about them both diminish. As you rest in the Lord, your heart is softened and strengthened at the same time. This gives you a greater strength to work through hard things, and a greater desire and ability to love and serve others.
- Susan Lutz, Thankfulness: Even When It Hurts
Often we are demanding and judgmental with others, fearful and easily hurt because we are controlled by our relationships with people, instead of focusing first on our relationship with God. We always have to start with the Lord and His redemptive purposes before we think about the people in a particular situation. If you can understand God's good purposes for you, what you expect of people and what you fear about them both diminish. As you rest in the Lord, your heart is softened and strengthened at the same time. This gives you a greater strength to work through hard things, and a greater desire and ability to love and serve others.
- Susan Lutz, Thankfulness: Even When It Hurts
