We as human beings have many qualities, both good and bad. Some of our bad traits are not very harmful, but some are never forgiven. According to Hindu philosophy, God does not forgive ingratitude under any circumstances. God is most compassionate, but the law of karma is applicable equally to all of us. We get what we give. Please see these screensavers about God, before proceeding further. Please also see this to know more about God's love for us. Let us return to talk of gratitude.

What is gratitude? Simply saying 'thank you' is at times enough to express our gratitude, whereas at times, we are helped so much by someone that mere words of thanks can never repay the help. This kind of help and sharing has to be remembered by us at all the times and we should make every effort to repay that. Even if we are not able to repay the gratitude in full, our very feeling of being obliged keeps our heart pure and makes our helper feel good.

We cannot measure the value of some acts of help. There is no method to measure. Certain acts may save our life. Certain acts may support us during our worst time. How do we measure them? No amount of money or any work in return can do that. But we can at least be ready and apply all our might to return the help in all possible ways.

A mother brings up her children with great effort. Often keeping herself hungry to feed her child. How do we repay our mother? We can at least try and see that our mother never feels helpless and alone in her old age. She is never short of money and she feels totally satisfied that her children take every care to keep her comfortable.

Similarly, we are many a times, helped in our life by our spouse. We not only feel fully supported but the sacrifice and help also overwhelms us. What if we walk out after all this? What if we leave our spouse alone to fight his/her battle after saving our own life? What if we not only forget what all was done to help us, but also see selfish reasons for that help? This is hateful and never forgiven by God. One should never commit any sin, and one should never even dream of committing the sin of ingratitude. Even hell would not accept us.