The Danger of Saying "Thank You"

   My family is definitely a dog family. It's not that we don't like other animals, but when it comes to pets we choose dogs. My first, official, dog is Yoyo. He is now 10 years old. When he was a puppy it was hard to train him.
   When training dogs we have a system. If the dog does whatever we want them to do, we give then a treat. This helps the dog realize that whatever the dog is doing is a good thing. We give a treat to the dog every time they sit, stay, come, or do a dance when we tell him to.
   Then, as time goes on, we don't give a treat to the dog every time he does what we want. Why is that? Well, you dog owners know that if you gave a treat to the dog every time then the dog would start to get fat, may get bored, or may just decide that he doesn't want to do what you want him to do.
   It's all a matter of training the dog. Believe it or not, humans are the same way. We want instant gratification in everything we do. Some of you may say, "can you blame us? We live in an age of social media where instant gratification is rampant." I'm not blaming, I'm just pointing out something important: if we get gratification every time we do something will it be as special if we continue to do it?

   Think about it: if you wash the dishes every day and someone makes a big deal about it every day, you know where they gush all over you, is it special? No, it would become common place and you may not want to wash the dishes as well or as much. It's just the way we are.
   What can we do about this problem? First we can stop expecting something in return when we do something. God doesn't want us to do good deeds in order to get something out of them. We don't give money to charity and expect to get money, or praise, back. If we do then we are as bad as the Pharisees! We need to do what we do without expecting anything in return.
   Next we can stop feeding into this problem by not giving instant gratification. Children nowadays always expect a reward. They wash the dishes to get money. They play a video game to win points to get something better. They behave around Christmas time so Santa will bring them the gifts they want. What do all of these rewards have in common? They are all temporary. That money will soon be gone, those points on that video game will not matter soon, and the presents will soon be obsolete. Instead we can give praise every once in a while. This will help children and others work harder in order to receive that praise.
   Finally, we can do whatever we do to reflect God's glory. If we focus on giving God the glory then we won't expect anything in return. When someone says thank you for giving we won't say "I know I'm awesome." Instead we will say, “thank God, he's the one who gave me the way to help you."
   So, will you stop expecting something in return when you do something? Will you stop giving instant gratification every time someone does something? Will you give God the glory when you do receive gratification?

   2 Corinthians 9:7, Matthew 6:1-34, 1 Corinthians 10:31