'Think, Thank, Tell'
Gift Of Love
by Yvonne Turnbull
Whether married or single, the month of February
is for gifts of love to be given. Several
years ago I gave Bob a gift that lives on and on, and it’s called - the
Think, Thank, Tell Gift Of Love. So, here is my
gift to Bob --
“How
come you always notice the things I do wrong, but never seem
to notice the things I do right?”
That’s
what my husband, Bob, said to me when I pointed out that he
had forgotten to wipe off the counters after he finished doing the
dishes. Then he added, “I have a terrific idea!
Next time why don’t you do the dishes since I never seem
to do them right, or do anything else right to please you!”
With those stinging words Bob exited the room.
God
used that incident to show me that I needed to change the way
I perceived my husband. I had been focusing on the
few things that he didn’t do right instead of all the things he did do
right. My criticism had been continuous, not just
occasionally. No wonder Bob hesitated when I asked
him to do things.
I
followed Bob into the other room and asked his forgiveness,
which he gave, and then I asked God to show me how I could stop seeing
what is wrong in my mate’s life and start seeing what is right.
There were more 'right' things than 'wrong', by far, but my focus was
too often on the negative. Is it that way with you? As
I prayed and searched the Scriptures, I came up with three things that
I needed to do: think, thank and tell.
THINK
Realizing
that I had developed faulty thinking
,
I went to Philippians 4:8, which says, “Whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -
think about such things.” Obviously, as just
stated, my thinking had been on what was wrong instead of
on what was right.
Over
the next few days, to counter my critical thinking, I listed
10 great things about Bob. As I wrote my list, I
prayed, “Lord, please open my eyes to areas that are right about Bob.”
I was amazed at how quickly God removed my blinders, and
I began to see Bob differently. I noticed the many
things about him that I had overlooked or had taken for granted.
Do you do that?
THANK
Having
a thankful heart changes the way we look at our circumstances.
And that’s what God wanted to develop in me.
In Ephesians 5:20 we read, “Always give thanks to God
the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So for the next week, in the morning and in the evening,
I read that list of 10. I thanked God for each
quality as I read it.
