Gratitude
by Kerin Acosta, FLM Psychologist
In celebration of our 30th anniversary, Family Life Missions expresses its sincere gratitude to God for allowing us to serve the children and families of Honduras through the gospel, bringing faith, hope, and the good news of Salvation. We feel privileged with this great commission. In addition, we want to thank the institutions and organizations that have accompanied us throughout this journey and our donors, collaborators, families, and churches that have come together to help children and vulnerable families who today are being restored with God's love.
Gratitude is a positive feeling of esteem and recognition born in the soul; this feeling arises when we receive a service or favor we wish to reciprocate. Everyone can experience it because we have all received something good at some point in our lives.
Sometimes, we believe that everything we have is because we deserve it, but in reality, there are things we receive that we do not deserve, yet we have them; we call this Divine grace.
If gratitude comes after receiving something, why don't some people show appreciation even after receiving what they need? For example, the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19 tells us that they had a disease that caused terrible wounds in their body, and there was no medicine for it. The disease was so contagious that they were excluded from society. However, one day, they see Jesus and beg Him to heal them. As they walk away after being healed, only one returns to express his gratitude to Jesus for his healing. Jesus told him: your faith has saved you; go. This man sincerely appreciated what Jesus had done for him. So, what happened to the other nine? They lost the value of what they had received. They did not show gratitude. We realize that gratitude is a decision of valuing, loving, and appreciating. I firmly believe that all people can develop gratitude.
We encourage you to express gratitude using your words or actions as you see what God has done for you and others. Material things are helpful, but instead of focusing on them, let’s try to be grateful for our more profound gifts, such as feeling helped in the spiritual, emotional, physical, social, and educational areas. Doing this is very important for the soul because it brings benefits such as happiness, kindness, faith, optimism, and self-esteem, in addition to developing solid relationships. After all, compassion is practiced by being grateful.
Give thanks in all things, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." This verse means there is always a reason to be grateful; even under challenging times, we must face them with hope and gratitude. - 1 Thessalonians 5:18