One of the most parasitic and destructive sins is a thankless spirit. To lack gratitude is to lack faith in God himself. This sin manifested itself in the wilderness generation, who complained and mumbled constantly to Moses and to God. It even reached the point where they wished that they had never left Egypt and were still slaves (Exod. 14:12)!

How does ingratitude manifest itself in our lives? It can manifest itself through complaining about our circumstances, be it a traffic jam, standing next to a smelly, annoying person at the DMV, or about having to skip a meal and being hungry. Ingratitude also occurs in our consumerism, when we are not satisfied with what God has already given us and feel the need to buy bigger houses, more expensive cars and clothes, go on more lavish vacations, and try more exquisite foods.

We are often like the Israelites in the wilderness, only we are in air-conditioned homes while they had to live in a hot desert. We can eat any food imaginable, they only had manna and quail. If we complain about our lives, it is an offense against God who furnishes our needs. It likely means you have not thanked God in a while for all that he has given you. It means you do not truly believe the promises in the Bible that God can satisfy every longing (John 4:14), that we can be happy with little (1 Tim 6:8), that God will give us all we need (Ps 107:8–9; Matt 6:25–34). We can always want and pray for a better world, but no matter how bad the world gets, we should not be ungrateful for we have an eternal habitation with God, and we know that God will make all things new (Rev 21:5).