Gratitude and Work understanding

In Reformed Theology (i.e. hardcore biblical doctrine), in the Continental school of it, gratitude is central to understanding biblical doctrine. The main catechism - the Heidelberg Catechism - is structured on three G's: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude.

You start out in guilt (fallen state) you are regenerated (come alive by grace) and then you react to it all with gratitude (to God).

The Work angle here is this, and it's big: when you, for instance, practice not internally-considering in some real time moment and event you are not indulging in resentment basically (resentment is a word - and thing - that sums up, or can sum up, how the 'old man' in us always feels and reacts to everything, and resentment is the opposite to gratitude). So instead of just doing the Work practice, which is good, you realize this is also how one performs REAL good works, once regenerated: acts of gratitude towards God. Glorifying God in the act of not internally-considering. When you focus on God, vertical, you take the motive out of the realm of you or the human being you are in the event with.

I don't know if I got at what I'm trying to express above. The Bible has a theme about 'vengeance is mine, I will repay' saith the Lord. Gratitude becomes a mode of operating and living and 'being' where you are connected with that Absolute II realm.

On another note: instead of looking for a new book look for these events where you can not internally-consider in real time. This is what it means to get beyond the text. The latter is the new 'book' that teaches and develops.

I still don't know if I got across what I meant to above. Not internally-considering is the same thing either way, but if you have a real, on-the-mark motive behind it (i.e. gratitude to God above, and gratitude as the fruit of your regeneration and justification, and also glorifying God) then it takes the 'personal' away from the incident and event and practice of the not-internally-considering. You get out of that miasma of the human and fallen (and the inevitability of you shifting internally back to resentment regarding the incident all the time) and the operation of the Work practice is connected with the Absolute II and you are in a new world.

I.e. your gratitude has an object: God. Not yourself or the Work or a human being, or just some nebulous nothing. Resentment feeds me (the 'Old Man' in me, vanity, worldly pride, self-will); it is concrete and gives pleasure. What does gratitude feed? Not what resentment feeds. Resentment has an object: the Old Man within. Gratitude needs an object, and motive: God and glorifying God. And this object and motive has to be seen, in terms of self-interest, as developing you and connecting you to the Absolute II, which is a higher world and a better world.

Good works don't justify you before God, good works are the FRUIT of justification, and they are the response of gratitude towards God. Guilt, grace, gratitude. There is alot in that word gratitude - in that context - vis-a-vis Work understanding.