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Exercise Gratitude

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:16–19, ESV)

Gratitude is a lot like exercise. When you don’t run, it is hard to run. But when you start to run, the more you can run, and the easier it is to run. You start to run faster and farther.

When you don’t practice gratitude, it is hard to be grateful. But when you start to appreciate your blessings, the more you will see blessings, and the easier it will be to express gratitude for those blessings. Not only will your gratitude be triggered more easily, but the depth of your gratitude will grow.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, I want to challenge you to exercise your gratitude muscle. Write down as many things as you can for which you are grateful. You might start with 20. You might start at 50. You might start with 100. The important thing is that you actually write them down. Put it on paper. Make a note on your phone. Type it into your computer. Record your thoughts in a voice memo.

Then let the list sit. After you have let the list sit for a day, take it out again. Review the list. Write down at least 10 more things that were not previously on the list. You might really stretch yourself and try to double your list.

Here is my bet. You will be able to come up with things on the second day that you were not able to come up with on the first day. The reason is that when you practice gratitude it will increase your awareness and sense of gratitude throughout the day. Stronger gratitude will help you see things you failed to notice when you had a weaker gratitude. Gratefulness begets gratefulness. Thankfulness increases thankfulness. Appreciation expands appreciation.

Are you up to the challenge? If not, how will you exercise gratitude in your life?

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40 Things NOT to Give up for Lent: 06.Gratitude

40 Things NOT to Give up for Lent: 06.Gratitude

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV)

Thanksgiving comes around once a year. It is a time to gather together with family. We watch some football and eat a nice meal. While the day is supposed to be about giving thanks, the actual practice of giving thanks is often neglected.

The Apostle Paul says to give thanks in all circumstances. In other words, gratitude is something to be practiced every day. It is not something to be reserved for one day of the year at the end of November.

But instead of practicing gratitude, it is often much easier to count all the things that are not right in life. However, when we engage in an intentional discipline of giving thanks, good things begin to happen. Here is a list of some of the benefits of gratitude:

Gratitude creates joy

It is much better to count your blessings than it is to wallow in your shortcomings. When you practice gratitude, you realize that life is not as bad as it might seem. You begin to see that life may be better than you perceive. Satan wants to rob your life of joy and will work overtime to make you blind you to the blessings God has granted. Gratitude will help you see the good things.

Gratitude saves you money

Gratitude builds contentment. When you have contentment you will not feel the need to buy that latest and greatest gadget with money you don't have. The goal of advertising is to make you feel discontent with your life and convince you that buying the latest and greatest is the key to your happiness. But if you are already happy, you will realize you do not need it.

Gratitude creates hope

When you practice gratitude, you will see you have much more in your favor than you realize. You will start to recognize the gifts God has given you to make a difference which you have taken for granted. You will begin to see God’s ability to empower you for more. Too often people lack trust in God’s ability to prosper them. But gratitude will work to conquer the fear of failure.

Gratitude opens up opportunity

As gratitude opens your eyes to see the world in a new way, you will begin to new see opportunities. Opportunities present themselves to those who have the eyes to see them. It’s not that you don’t have opportunities. It is that you don’t have the eyes to see them. As we are more attentive to God's work in our lives, we will see things we did not see before.

Gratitude creates healthy relationships

We can easily take the people in our lives for granted. It might be our spouse, volunteers at church, or the waiter at the restaurant. We all enjoy being appreciated. We all relish when other people take notice of what we are doing. And other people will appreciate when you offer them gratitude. Expressing gratitude towards others can do amazing things in your relationships.

Who can you express gratitude toward today? To whom can you show appreciation? Write a note. Send a message. Tell them in person. Let them know your appreciation. It will be a blessing to them. It will be a blessing to you. It will be a blessing to your relationship. It will be a blessing to God.

Reflection.
  1. Make a list of the things that you are grateful.
  2. Create a gratitude journal to keep each day.
  3. Write some thank you notes to people you appreciate.

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Giving up Ungratefulness

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Holy Week Tuesday

Scripture Verses

  • Psalm 100:1–5
  • Psalm 118:1–29
  • Luke 17:11–19
  • 1 Thessalonians 5:16–19

Questions to Consider

  • What do you have to be thankful for?
  • What causes us to be ungrateful?
  • How do you cultivate a grateful heart?
  • How does Jesus create gratefulness within us?

Plan of Action

  • Listen to positive and uplifting music. It does our soul good and helps cultivate gratitude in our heart. Another thing you might consider is re-reading the Psalms above. Remember the Psalms are songs.
  • Make a list of all the things Jesus means to you.
  • Express your gratitude. Share with others what you are thankful for.

Reflection

Every year in the United States we set aside the fourth Thursday in November to give thanks for all our blessings. It is a beautiful day. It is a day to enjoy being together with family. The turkey is carved. There is no need to exchange gifts, because the focus is on all that we have already been given.

Then the next day we scratch, claw, and fight in the shopping malls for all the things we don’t have. We see people trampling over other people in department stores to get the great deal. Have you ever caught the irony of this? One day is all about the things God has poured into our lives. The next day is about all the things we are lacking.

Gratitude is not something that can be manufactured. Setting aside at day to be thankful is not going to automatically make us grateful.

Another trick we use to try to manufacture gratitude is to compare ourselves to others less fortunate. Maybe you have seen this list which has circulated on the internet the last few years:

  • If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of the world.
  • If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.
  • If you woke up this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.
  • If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation you are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering.
  • If you can read this message you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read it at all.

Gratitude cannot be manufactured by guilt. We might think that the more we have, the more thankful we will be. But those who are given more are often the least grateful. Those with less are often the most grateful. It is backwards from the way that we think it should be.

In Luke 17:11–19 Jesus heals 10 lepers of their disease. After they are healed, only one returns to thank Jesus for what he had done. You might have thought that all 10 would have been thankful for the incredible gift of healing they received. It’s just not the way that it works.

Gratitude cannot be measured by the amount of blessing poured into our lives. Gratitude is a heart matter. What is in our heart will come out. Is your heart’s desire for Jesus or is your heart’s desire for more stuff? If Jesus is truly our heart’s desire, then we will have all we need and more. Ask Jesus to come and dwell in you richly so you might give him thanks with a grateful heart.

Next: Selfish Ambition

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