"And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments."
To me this means that if I don't have gratitude and are not obedient then I will experience His wrath. That doesn't sound so great. I don't want to offend my Heavenly Father by being ungrateful and disobedient, but it is sometimes hard to see all the blessings in life. Obedience is also a struggle, of course, since it is natural for us to sin against God. Lucky for us we have the Atonement and through that Atonement we can repent. In fact, repentance is also a commandment.
Here is some nice scriptural praise and advice from Ammon in the Book of Mormon:
"Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise, yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever (Alma 26:8)."
Paul likewise had some good advice to the Thessalonians:
"In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thessalonians 5:18)."
As a child and teenager I was never good at saying thank you and being grateful. That's because I was selfish (at least that's how I see it in hindsight). Now I often think of my blessings and when I do, my trials are put into perspective. I love to pray to my Heavenly Father in gratitude. Where would I be if he didn't give me everything I have? I am glad for the Atonement that allowed me to change and become less selfish than I was (not that I am free from selfishness now). As Thanksgiving approaches it is traditional to start thinking of things we are grateful for, but we are commanded to always be grateful, not just at certain times of the year. I hope to continue to improve in this area. Life is long and there's always time to change, another thing for which I am grateful.
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