I am back to this blog, now writing on Ungratefulness.
In this seventh attribute, which represents these last days, this word “ungrateful,” in 2 timothy 3:2, happens to be lodged between “disobedient to parents” and “unholy,” which, I think, indicates evil days. And indeed, the only other verse in the bible having this word, gives us this indication. The verse is in Luke 6:35. Jesus said here…
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
Here it seems clear that Jesus is classifying ungrateful men with evil men. He is saying that ungrateful and evil men (or men who are both ungrateful and evil) are those who are not good men and who will not lend anything to others who are in need. Hence, the ungrateful are the same fellows who are disobedient to their parents and who are unholy.
Now, as we delve further into this study, I think it would be prudent to put this word “ungrateful” in the context of this passage in 2 Timothy 3, in order to show the root causes of a man’s ungratefulness. Here are six points that tell us about these ungrateful people.
1. They are consumed by self-love. These evil and selfish ones have an entitlement mentality and view life from the lens of what they believe they are owed, not thinking of those who give to them, even God. They think they deserve what they have. This man you would think is strictly an unsaved man, not having Christ rule his heart. But Christians can also have this ungrateful attitude. If they are not keeping in the Word and in prayer, they may easily fall into this worldly iniquity of self-love and ungratefulness.
2. They are lovers of money. These lovers of money are also lovers of themselves; and so, all they can think of is how much they can gain and spend for themselves. Whether they make it rich or not, they are consumed with greed; and what they have received they regard as receiving it by their own effort and wisdom, leaving no room to thank God or others.
3. They are proud and arrogant. These haughty ones consider themselves self-made and supreme, so they never consider acknowledging anyone else.
4. This person is a reviler. This one who has an evil and depraved mind, is constantly speaking evil of others, especially Christian people and of God. Therefore, it is not in his nature to be thankful or grateful toward anyone who does anything for them—even to God who is kind toward everyone whom He has created (Lu. 6:35).
5. This person does not obey his parents. He is so full of hatred and reviling’s toward others, and at the same time is full of love for self, with pride and arrogance, so that he has no room for anyone else, including his parents who love him.
6. This person is unholy. He has not regarded God’s holiness and sovereignty; therefore, he does not see His provisions as gifts. In fact, he probably does not regard Him at all. He blocks Him out of his
thoughts. Hence, he sees no reason to be grateful to Him who does not exist.
In my biblical search, I could not find much on ungratefulness, or on unthankfulness; so, I decided to go the other way: to look for verses on thankfulness, and extrapolate from those verses how we can keep from being ungrateful. Here are the results of my study, from five verses I used.
2 Samuel 22:50
“Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
David publicly gave thanks to God for delivering him from his enemies and from Saul, showing us that he was not ungrateful to God.
1 Chronicles 16:7-10
Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.
8 Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
10 Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
King David assigned Asaph to write this Psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord after they had defeated the Philistines. They were not ungrateful to Him.
They sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Ezra and all the people of Israel sang and gave thanks to the Lord after they had laid the foundation of the Tabernacle. They were certainly not ungrateful to God for His goodness to them. It is a shame that in the last days this will not be true.
Psalm 7:17
I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
This is a song of David. He is thanking the Lord because in His righteousness and justice He has dealt with his enemies (verses 15-16). God has caused David’s enemies to fall into the pit that he had planned for him; his mischief and violence will return upon his own head. David was thankful and grateful to God for His protection in times of great trouble. In later times many will not be so grateful.
Psalm 30:4-5
Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones,
And give thanks to His holy name.
5 For His anger is but for a moment,
His favor is for a lifetime;
Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning.
Here again is a Psalm of David in which he gives thanks to Him for keeping him alive (v. 3). In this Psalm David instructs God’s “godly ones”: to praise Him and give thanks to Him. Yes, the godly will be grateful to God; but in the future, in the last days, so many will not be godly and therefore will not be grateful.
Source: From the book I am presently writing, will be entitled, Difficult Times in these Last Days: 19 Attributes that Depict These Days (from 2 Timothy 3:2-5).
