Is it possible to receive gifts from God with an ungrateful heart?

This question was posed to me this morning in staff devotions. The actual devotions was on forgiveness as both a gift and a rebuke and how we deal with it as grown people. That part of the devotional was good and there were things in there that I was reminded of in a good way. But the question of can we receive gifts from God with an ungrateful heart really hit me hard. Now I know that the subject question could be about any kind of gift from God, not just one of the spiritual gifts found in I Corinthians.But it was only a little over a week ago that I was complaining to a close friend about how sometimes I want to trade in my spiritual gift. How there are times when I wish that I could either give it back or simply trade it in for one that seems by all appearances to be easier to handle. I understand that quite clearly the Bible says in I Corinthians 12:18-20 “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body” (NRSV). And I know full well that we are each given the gift that God has ordained for us to have and that we should be accepting of that gift no matter. But truth be told there are times when I am just plain tired from the battle between God and the powers of evil, and I am ungrateful for the gifts that He has given me.


The more I pondered on these thoughts today, the more I realized that it is not necessarily being ungrateful with our words or actions, but even if we are ungrateful in our hearts that is the same thing. We are still being ungrateful and we are hurting God with it.

So for me today this question was an eye-opener and a reminder that God is in charge and He knows full well what gift He gave me and why. And when I read a little earlier in I Corinthians I can find that God promises He will not put more on me than I can bear, and I know from Philippians that with Christ as my guide and my strength I can do anything. This is what was in my head today, feel free to add your opinions.