At thanksgiving, we expect everyone to be thankful, but be aware there is always something in the moment that can squeeze that gratitude right out of your life.

You can either act like an ingrate or remember to be grateful. Which will it be for you?

The following two acrostics spell out some of the differences between being an ingrate or being grateful. How are God’s myriad of blessings showing up in your life?

You can spell an “ingrate” this way:

I remember reading a story about Charles Hadden Spurgeon who recounts visiting a widow who had virtually nothing but bread and water for her meal. She lifted her hands to heaven in praise and proclaimed, “What? All of this and Jesus too!”

What an overwhelming sense of gratitude to God this widow displayed, and it makes my grumbling about gas prices sound absolutely petty and embarrassing.

Former pastor A.W. Tozer famously said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” So true. So our gratitude toward God rises or falls based upon the rightness or wrongness of our view and heart toward Him.