Ticket to Freedom

Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. —1 Timothy 6:6–7

Andrew Carnegie, the wealthy industrialist, left a million dollars to one of his relatives, who in return became angry toward his generous benefactor because Mr. Carnegie had also left $365 million to charitable causes. How can a person have a million reasons to be grateful yet find it hundreds of millions short of being adequate?

But don’t we all possess some sense of entitlement toward God? How often does our expectation or demand for “more” tower over the plenty we already possess?

That’s because we forget that God doesn’t owe us anything. We are debtors. We are the ones who owe. We think we deserve more (or different or better) than we have, and therefore we forget or minimize the blessings God has already given and continues to give.

The fact is we’re often not so different than Carnegie’s ungrateful beneficiary. It’s time we let gratitude be our ticket to freedom and lead us to a place of simple satisfaction.