Unleashing Gratitude

eric posted on November 26, 2009

He had incredible potential, a keen intellect, and a passionate heart for the things of God. But as substantial as his gifting was, it was equally matched by his brokenness. I was more than happy to invest in his life, and certainly his promise and eagerness were motivation enough. I was mentoring a small community while working a full-time job and trying to be faithful as a good husband and father of two. It caught me by surprise the day he sat me down and reprimanded me. It was no small rebuke. He told me I had let him down. I had not followed through on my commitment. I was not giving him enough time and investment.

I considered arguing with him, but experience reminded me it would be no use. So I just took him home. We sat in the living room with my wife, Kim, who has a wonderful way of cutting through everything and just getting at the truth. I only asked her one question. “Honey, who do I spend more time with, you or him?”

I’ll never forget Kim’s response. “Are you kidding? I thought you were married to him.” The conversation was over. The point I couldn’t make was made with emphasis.

When we lack wholeness, our ability to perceive the investment of others is damaged. Our perception is that we’re just not getting what we need. The truth is, nothing sticks because our heart lacks the proper texture for the investment to mature. This is the mystery of gratitude. Without it, all the investment in the world will not result in wholeness. Thankfully, this particular individual had a dramatic change of heart. A decade later it’s my privilege to know him and I am always amazed at the level of his servanthood. It certainly wasn’t the result of learning something new.

Sometimes the simple truth is the most profound. That we will never become whole without gratefulness probably doesn’t seem complex enough to be true. For whatever it’s worth, I have always found the greatest mysteries of life to be hidden in simplicity. The quest for nobility is a journey that takes us from gratitude to wholeness to generosity. There is no other path that leads us to the freedom that makes us complete. There is no way to circumvent the process. It all begins here. And as we will discover, it also ends here. It is a life of gratitude that makes us whole, overwhelms us with love, and moves us to live generous lives.

No truth, no matter how profound, will find its way into a heart that is absent of gratitude.

Happy Thanksgiving.

An exerpt taken from Erwin McManus’ Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul

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