Gratitude

I believe that gratitude compels us to be humble. Expressing gratitude to others ans most importantly to the Savior allows us to eliminate pride, a grateful heart is always focused outward, not inward. When we express gratitude we find and are enabled to see the hand of the Lord in our life and the many blessings which are ever present in the lives of those who choose to follow the Savior. The more we express gratitude the more profitable we are to the Lord.
                 - Sara

“My brothers and sisters, do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love… to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven.”

                 – President Thomas S. Monson, October 2010, Sunday Morning Session

“We can determine to pray daily for someone called by God to serve us. We can thank someone who has blessed us by his or her service. We can decide to step forward when someone we have sustained asks for volunteers. Those who uphold the Lord’s servants in His kingdom will be sustained by His matchless power. We all need that blessing.”

                -President Henry B. Eyring, “Called of God and Sustained by the People”, June 2012

“No matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it.”

                -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Of Regrets and Resolutions", Ensign, November 2012

“We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”

                -President Thomas S. Monson, “Divine Gift of Gratitude”, October 2010

"It’s so easy in life for us to receive blessings, many of them almost uncounted, and have things happen in our lives that can help change our lives, improve our lives, and bring the Spirit into our lives. But we sometimes take them for granted. How grateful we should be for the blessings that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings into our hearts and souls. I would remind all of you that if we’re ever going to show gratitude properly to our Heavenly Father, we should do it with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—because it was He who gave us life and breath"

                -David B. Haight, “Were There Not Ten Cleansed?” Ensign, November 2002

"Our society is afflicted by a spirit of thoughtless arrogance unbecoming those who have been so magnificently blessed. How grateful we should be for the bounties we enjoy. Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief… "Where there is appreciation, there is courtesy, there is concern for the rights and property of others. Without appreciation, there is arrogance and evil. "Where there is gratitude, there is humility, as opposed to pride"

-Gordon B. Hinckley, "'With All Thy Getting Get Understanding'," Ensign, August 1988

"As with all commandments, gratitude is a description of a successful mode of living. The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us. President J. Reuben Clark, formerly a First Counselor in the First Presidency, said: 'Hold fast to the blessings which God has provided for you. Yours is not the task to gain them, they are here; yours is the part of cherishing them”

-James E. Faust, "Gratitude As a Saving Principle," Ensign, Dec 1996

"Prayer is an essential part of conveying appreciation to our Heavenly Father. He awaits our expressions of gratefulness each morning and night in sincere, simple prayer from our hearts for our many blessings, gifts, and talents. Through expression of prayerful gratitude and thanksgiving, we show our dependence upon a higher source of wisdom and knowledge—God the Father and his Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (Robert D. Hales, "Gratitude for the Goodness of God," Ensign, May 1992, 63).

                -Elder Robert D. Hales, “Gratitude for the Goodness of God”, Ensign, May 1992

"The Prophet Joseph said at one time that one of the greatest sins of which the Latter-day Saints would be guilty is the sin of ingratitude. I presume most of us have not thought of that as a great sin. There is a great tendency for us in our prayers and in our pleadings with the Lord to ask for additional blessings. But sometimes I feel we need to devote more of our prayers to expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings already received. We enjoy so much (God, Family, Country, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1974, p. 199)"

-Ezra Taft Benson, quoted in Henry B. Eyring, "Remembrance and Gratitude," Ensign, Nov. 1989

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help. We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues"

-President Thomas S. Monson, "An Attitude of Gratitude," Ensign, May 1992