Unthankfully Ungrateful

An elderly friend told me recently about how someone she had helped so much (at least as much as she could have afforded to) just suddenly began to behave towards her like she had done nothing at all for him. She heard from a source that he complained that she could have done much more for him than she had done. And that really hurt her.

She had taken this guy in like a son from their church when he had newly relocated from his village (which happens to be hers too) to the town where she resides, to resume school. Even though she doesn’t know his family. She paid his school fees throughout his stay in the higher institution. His grandmother who had been taking care of him since his parents died couldn’t afford to pay the bills so she volunteered to do it.

Now, this woman is a widow. She has children of her own that she has to pay their way through school too. And it’s not like she is ‘wealthy’. She is actually a salary earner. She just has a giving and compassionate heart. She did all she did out of inconvenience to herself and her immediate family.

So for that guy to be complaining is what I don’t get. . . But I feel her pains.

I have had my own experiences too with ungrateful people.

One characteristic of ungrateful people that I have come to identify is that they don’t remember to contact you unless they need you to solve their problems. You only hear from them when they need to collect something from you again.

And is this not how many of us behave towards God?

We think what He has done for us is too little to accord Him “all that praise”.

We forget too quickly what has been done unto us.

We tell ourselves, “What’s the fuss all about? He could ONLY give me fifty thousand naira. Aren’t there people who give their servants landed properties as giveaways?”

I guess the problem is that many of us have the “entitlement syndrome”.

We believe that we deserve the blessings we receive.

Well sorry, that is a very wrong mentality.

Whether it’s your parents, friends, relatives or God, whatever you are given is given you out of their benevolence. It is a privilege to have received what you have received from them.

Now, you should be grateful for that.

Whether it looks “big” or “small” according to your books, remember they could have decided not to give you anything at all.

I encourage you to be grateful for every minute blessing you receive.

If you need to make a list of those that have been good to you in the past, please do. And remember to tell them you appreciate what they did for you.

As you plan to do that for the people you can see, make a list of the good things God has done for you and thank Him for them.

Learn from the Psalmist and make positive changes in your outlook to life.

. . . Never let any good deed pass without you giving due thanks for it.

. . . Never think lightly of any blessing.

God bless you!

-OMOSEBI Mary Omolola (PhD)
© 2016