It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving 2009 is here already. Time just seems go more quickly every year. This year, I will be driving to Atlanta for Thanksgiving with my family. It takes about 12 hours to drive all the way down, I find the drive relaxing and it gives me time to think and change the pace of life a bit. I also have some stops planned along the way to meet old friends from days gone by. These planned “coffee stops” are always great ways to pay a quick visit to great friends. This year when I arrive in Atlanta, I am planning to have lunch with some high school friends. One of them I haven’t seen in 20 years! Unbelievable. I am thankful for the opportunity.

This Thanksgiving I am thankful for family and friends. I remember the ministry of those who witnessed to me and prayed for before I was saved. I am grateful for the love, prayers, support and patience shown to me by the people of God. I am grateful to the people of God who endured so much bad preaching while I practiced and grew. I appreciate those who put up with my immaturity and ignorance.

I am thankful for my church family. When you read the book of Philippians, you will notice that Paul had mostly positive things to say about that church. The only negative comment Paul makes is in 4:2, where he encourages to women to walk together in Christian unity. Everything else Paul has to say to this church is positive in nature.

Was the church in Philippi a perfect church? Absolutely not! It was the same as any other church made up of redeemed sinners. There were gossips there. There were troublemakers there. There were people who said the wrong things at the wrong time. There were people who did the wrong things. There were people with bad attitudes. There were people there of every kind and description.

If these people were imperfect and prone to failure, why is there no mention of their negatives? When Paul wrote to this church he did not write to focus on the negative things he knew about them. He wrote to emphasize the positives among the people of God.

These people were praying for Paul. They were witnessing and sharing the Gospel. They were working, they were giving sacrificially. They many, many good things that they were doing and Paul chose to see those good things and he refused to focus on the negative things!

It’s real easy to be negative isn’t it? I think we fail to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect church and that there is not church thing as a perfect Christian. It is so easy to focus in on what others say and do. It is so easy to see the negatives, but it is so hard to see the positives. Did you know that true love always sees the best in others, 1 Corinthians 13:5, 7, 8?

When I love you like I should, I will not zero in on your negatives. I will remember that I have many issues in my life too. If I really love you like I ought to, I will pray for you when I see something I don’t like, but I won’t criticize you. I won’t talk about you. I won’t put you down or look down on you. When I love you like I should, I will be able to look past the negatives in your life to see the positives. (Proverbs 10:12; 17:9)

What do you see when you look at your church family? Are you prone to see just the things you don’t like? Do you focus in on the negative? Are you one of those people who rarely have a good word to say about anything or anyone? Are you one of those folks who is always finding fault? If that is you, there is a problem in your life! A person who is consistently that way has one of two problems.

1. They are not controlled by the Holy Spirit but the flesh. (The things I mentioned: bitterness, resentfulness, holding grudges, etc. are all works of the flesh and not the Spirit – Gal. 5:19-24)

2. They have never been saved!

Or, are you the kind of person who seems to be able to find the good in others? They do wrong, but you forgive them and give them the benefit of the doubt. They say things that hurt, but you let it roll on off. They don’t do it like you would do it, but you allow them to be the person the Lord wired them up to be. If you are that kind of a person, you are walking in love!

Please don’t misunderstand; love never turns a blind eye to sin! Jesus dealt with sin in the lives of believers and unbelievers and called it what it was. The difference between us and Jesus is that He perfectly loved those He was forced to rebuke. We tend to have a problem doing that! He reacted in love; we tend to react in anger.

The sad truth is many wrong relationships flourish in our churches today. There are people who will not forgive others for their past words and deeds. There are always little groups that gather to grumble and find fault with what the church is doing. There usually seems to always be some person or persons who are out of sorts with the rest of the local assembly. As a result of this state of affairs, the church is powerless! As a result of our lack of genuine love and forgiveness, souls are not saved and real revival never comes. We need to learn to love properly!

Paul does something here that is much needed in our churches today. He takes the time to say “Thank you” to those people who had been a blessing to him.

I find that we are not too good at doing that! We need to express our love, our thanks and our appreciation to those who have been a blessing to us. Maybe you need to go to someone and say “Thank you. You have been a blessing to me.” You might need to write a letter, make a phone call or send an E-mail and tell someone what a blessing they have been in your life. Thanksgiving is a great opportunity for this!

What do you remember this Thanksgiving?