Envy is the great enemy of thankfulness. We cannot at the same time be jealous of what someone else has and be thankful for what we have. That’s why it’s so necessary to discipline ourselves to be focused on all the good that is our’s, rather than all our unfilled wants.
As you look at your life this Thanksgiving, consider the things that are truly your’s.
Here are some of ours:
– The warm memories of parents who loved us and raised us.
– All of our brothers and sisters are still living.
– The sweet experiences of friendships that saw us through difficult transitions in life.
– The years of growing deeper in love with each other.
– Six beautiful children.
– The decades of love, mercy and grace from our Savior and Lord.
Would you trade any of the things you are thankful for – for control of a bank, a seat at a cabinet table, or a good year on the stock exchange? A recent done by a Massachusetts life insurance company revealed that the average person would rather spend Thanksgiving with his family than be given $1,000 in cash.
It is a sign of the age that such a question would even be posed.
This Thanksgiving we are grateful. We are grateful for many things. One of them is that when our daughter Melissa, was seven years old, she was involved in a serious bicycle accident that left her unconscious. Bob was with her when it happened and he thought for several minutes while waiting for help to arrive that she might be dead.
The most wonderful words Bob has ever heard in his life occurred when she opened her eyes, groggy and dazed, and simply said, “daddy.”
We don’t care that we’re not wealthy.
We don’t seem to mind that we drive older used cars.
We’re not disturbed that our clothes don’t come from Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
Our daughter, Melissa, is alive. And every time she smiles at us or we see a picture of her with her beautiful twenty-five year old grin, we realize we are the richest people on earth. Not only that, but we have five other beautiful children
and each other as well.
It’s easy for us to let the virus of envy work in our souls. There’s a simple antidote for that disease. It’s a Biblical Proverb the early pilgrims lived by, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” I Timothy 6:6
This Thanksgiving, take the cure.
About Cheryl Moeller
Cheryl Moeller has been married to her best friend Bob for 30 years. They are the parents of six children, one son-in-law, and three lively dogs. She uses her over-the-counter-top stand up comedy at women's groups and retreats, prays like it's her full-time job, writes a syndicated humor column, blogs about life with lots of kids at www.momlaughs.blogspot.com, and authors books such as Keep Courting: 100 Ways to Keep Courting After Marriage (purchase on their website) and Marriage Miracle (Harvest House 2010). Bob and Cheryl's passion is to connect two hearts for a lifetime. They have co-founded For Better For Worse For Keeps Ministries www.bobandcherylmoeller.com.
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