Thankfulness Without Spite

A couple gets married and had a baby, then the testimony goes “The very night of our wedding, I conceived”

What does that mean?

Would the baby be less of a miracle if he or she was conceived on night 1000?

Our testimonies are not meant to be measured against other people’s misfortunes or delays.

Africans especially don’t understand how such testimonies subject other believers serving the same God to mental distress and pains.

How does that glorify God?

You can be thankful without being spiteful.

Children born after years of delays get celebrated and cherished for being the fulfillment of the dreams and expectations of their parents.

The children themselves, either conceived pre-wedding, wedding night or post wedding or 2000 nights after wedding are the same.

The feelings of parents and relatives, or the circumstances surrounding their birth may tempt us to assume otherwise.

That assumption would be wrong, however. When we give thanks to God, we must do so with the intention of allowing others give thanks with us with a joyful heart.

My joy does not have to provoke sorrow in you. My testimony should not prompt you to weep.

You can be in pain and my testimony when rendered would buoy your spirit and give you hope.

We really need to learn how not to treat God’s goodness as a weapon of spitting others in the name of sharing our testimonies in church.

-GSW-