--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Be thankful for the thorns and thistles…" description: "\"Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater.\" — Charles Spurgeon" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png" --- # Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you… ![“Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater.” quote by Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png) > “Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater.” [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognize hardships as safeguards against worldly attachment and idolatry. **In simple terms:** Hardships protect you from loving the world too much. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges to stay spiritually grounded. Themes spirituality humility detachment Mood reflective serious Type inspirational theological When to use this quote - Personal trials - spiritual growth - overcoming materialism Key Concepts Idolatry worldly desire spiritual discipline Questions to Reflect On - How do you view your current struggles? - What idols might you be clinging to? A Different Perspective Hardships can also cause despair if not framed positively. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-in-love/) [Being thankful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-thankful/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Thankful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thankful/) [Thistles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thistles/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I am thankful that thorns have roses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-karr/i-am-thankful-that-thorns-have-roses/) [Alphonse Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-karr/) > [Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-karr/some-people-are-always-grumbling-because-roses-have-thorns-i-am/) [Alphonse Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-karr/) > [Untilled ground, however rich, will bring forth thistles and thorns; so also the mind of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/untilled-ground-however-rich-will-bring-forth-thistles-and-thorns-so/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Some of the most beautiful things worth having in your life come wrapped in a crown of thorns.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/some-of-the-most-beautiful-things-worth-having-in-your-life-come/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Cursed be the ground for our sake. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for us. For out of the ground we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/cursed-be-the-ground-for-our-sake-both-thorns-and-thistles-it-shall/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Still, they were two thorns from the same thistle. Their tactics in terrorizing innocent ladies were identical. Their behavior was downright sinful, but what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-garwood/still-they-were-two-thorns-from-the-same-thistle-their-tactics-in/) [Julie Garwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-garwood/) > [Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning, as it was to Adam and Eve, who kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/marriage-which-has-been-the-bourne-of-so-many-narratives-is-still-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Untilled soil, however fertile it may be, will bear thistles and thorns; so it is with man's mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/untilled-soil-however-fertile-it-may-be-will-bear-thistles-and-thorns/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [... continual hard labor deadens the energies of the soul, and benumbs the faculties of the mind; the ideas become confined, the mind barren,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-w-stewart/continual-hard-labor-deadens-the-energies-of-the-soul-and-benumbs-the/) [Maria W. Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-w-stewart/) > [I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight No I was all horns and thorns sprung out fully formed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-newsom/i-wasn-t-born-of-a-whistle-or-milked-from-a-thistle-at-twilight-no-i/) [Joanna Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-newsom/) > [Some people grumble that roses have thorns but other are thankful that thorns have roses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/some-people-grumble-that-roses-have-thorns-but-other-are-thankful/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“People complain because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses because I have finally learned not to pick them the next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/people-complain-because-roses-have-thorns-i-am-thankful-that-thorns/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“She could go on asking herself why roses had thorns or she could be thankful that thorns had roses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-griffin/she-could-go-on-asking-herself-why-roses-had-thorns-or-she-could-be/) Ella Griffin > [He who boasts of being perfect is perfect in folly. I never saw a perfect man. Every rose has its thorns, and every day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-who-boasts-of-being-perfect-is-perfect-in-folly-i-never-saw-a/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [God has not made this world to be a nest for us, and if we try to make it such for ourselves, he plants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/god-has-not-made-this-world-to-be-a-nest-for-us-and-if-we-try-to-make/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## More by Charles Spurgeon > [The more holy, the more humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/the-more-holy-the-more-humble/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [He is not humanity deified. He is not Godhead humanized. He is God. He is man. He is all that God is, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/he-is-not-humanity-deified-he-is-not-godhead-humanized-he-is-god-he/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Christ came to bring healing to those who are spiritually sick-you say that you are perfectly well, so you must go your own way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/christ-came-to-bring-healing-to-those-who-are-spiritually-sick-you/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Who among you today is doing the most for your Master's kingdom? I will tell you. Lend me a spiritual thermometer by which I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/who-among-you-today-is-doing-the-most-for-your-master-s-kingdom-i/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [I do not know when I am more perfectly happy than when I am weeping for sin at the foot of the cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/i-do-not-know-when-i-am-more-perfectly-happy-than-when-i-am-weeping/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Light physical is said by Solomon to be sweet, but gospel light is infinitely more precious, for it reveals eternal things, and ministers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/light-physical-is-said-by-solomon-to-be-sweet-but-gospel-light-is/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [If you are to go to Christ, do not put on your good doings and feelings, or you will get nothing. Go in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-you-are-to-go-to-christ-do-not-put-on-your-good-doings-and/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Don't you know that day dawns after night, showers displace drought, and spring and summer follow winter? Then, have hope! Hope forever, for God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/don-t-you-know-that-day-dawns-after-night-showers-displace-drought/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“A mother can translate baby-talk: she comprehends incomprehensible noises. Even so doth our Father in heaven know all about our poor baby talk, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/a-mother-can-translate-baby-talk-she-comprehends-incomprehensible/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [God is our portion, Christ our companion, the Spirit our Comforter, Earth our lodge, and Heaven is our home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/god-is-our-portion-christ-our-companion-the-spirit-our-comforter/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Jesus poured out his soul in life before he poured it out unto death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/jesus-poured-out-his-soul-in-life-before-he-poured-it-out-unto-death/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [There are believers who by God's grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/there-are-believers-who-by-god-s-grace-have-climbed-the-mountains-of/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [If we want revivals, we must revive our reverence for the Word of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-we-want-revivals-we-must-revive-our-reverence-for-the-word-of-god/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Believe only half of the praise and half of the criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/believe-only-half-of-the-praise-and-half-of-the-criticism/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) [Explore all 1,523 Charles Spurgeon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## More Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) Jennifer Siebel Newsom > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. To amass knowledge without becoming wise is not my idea of progress…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/but-i-already-saw-no-great-difference-between-the-psyche-and/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [The path I choose through the maze makes me what I am. I am not only a thing, but also a way of being--one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-keyes/the-path-i-choose-through-the-maze-makes-me-what-i-am-i-am-not-only-a/) [Daniel Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-keyes/) > [Becoming famous is a really shocking thing, especially when you don't have aspirations to it. It got to the point where I would try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/becoming-famous-is-a-really-shocking-thing-especially-when-you-don-t/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [When other boys dreamt of going to the moon or becoming doctors, I wanted to be a designer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-theyskens/when-other-boys-dreamt-of-going-to-the-moon-or-becoming-doctors-i/) [Olivier Theyskens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-theyskens/) > [One is not born a genius, one becomes a genius; and the feminine situation has up to the present rendered this becoming practically impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/one-is-not-born-a-genius-one-becomes-a-genius-and-the-feminine/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [The dream of coming back is becoming a reality. A lot of the uncertainty about the future has been cleared up. A lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tagliabue/the-dream-of-coming-back-is-becoming-a-reality-a-lot-of-the/) [Paul Tagliabue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tagliabue/) > [I'm getting to a point where everything is becoming streamlined in my life. I'm learning how to stand onstage for two hours and play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mayer/i-m-getting-to-a-point-where-everything-is-becoming-streamlined-in-my/) [John Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mayer/) > [The term 'Pre-Raphaelite' is in danger of becoming one of the most misused tags in art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wood/the-term-pre-raphaelite-is-in-danger-of-becoming-one-of-the-most/) Christopher Wood > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The reason so many of us are obsessed with becoming stars is because we are not yet starring in our own lives. The cosmic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/the-reason-so-many-of-us-are-obsessed-with-becoming-stars-is-because/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [In a personal way, to do with family and the father-son relationship, in a kind of artistic way with regard to him being an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-serkis/in-a-personal-way-to-do-with-family-and-the-father-son-relationship/) [Andy Serkis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-serkis/) > [Trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion...What is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/trying-to-be-perfect-may-be-inevitable-for-people-who-are-smart-and/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) Browse all 4,715 Becoming quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Spurgeon" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles-which-keep-you-from-being-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Becoming" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles-which-keep-you-from-being-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad3/charles-spurgeon-82_becoming_be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles_2262400.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an…” — Charles Spurgeon", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Spurgeon", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Be thankful for the thorns and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles-which-keep-you-from-being-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/be-thankful-for-the-thorns-and-thistles-which-keep-you-from-being-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```