10/10/2023
If you have trouble with gratitude, you’re not alone. Some days (if I’m being honest) it’s difficult to feel grateful. Yet other times, I’m so filled with gratitude, I can’t help but feel joy and optimism. These two very different emotions are usually based on circumstances. But what if you intentionally choose to be grateful in spite of your circumstance?
Researchers describe gratitude as a personality strength—the ability to be keenly aware of the good things that happen to you and never take them for granted. It’s been shown that individuals who exhibit and express the most gratitude are happier, healthier and more energetic. Grateful people report fewer symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and spend more time being active. Also, the more a person is inclined to feel grateful, the less likely they are to feel lonely, stressed, anxious and depressed.
Easier said than done though—right? Have you noticed that most things in life worth doing are not done easily? Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. . . . I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
It’s not easy to get a college degree. It’s not easy to develop and maintain a healthy marriage. It’s not easy to raise children. It’s not easy to keep that job. It’s not always easy . . . to be grateful.
Sometimes the clouds cover the sun, but we choose to give thanks anyway.
Sometimes chaos overwhelms peace, but we choose to give thanks anyway.
Sometimes pain overpowers comfort, but we choose to give thanks anyway.
Gratitude is a choice we make, as are all the virtues. Love is an act of the will. Joy is an act of the will. Peace is an act of the will. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are all choices we make in spite of the world around us and the feelings inside us (Galatians 5:22-23).
I choose to believe, even when doubts flood my soul. I choose to give thanks, even when my heart doesn’t feel grateful. I choose to worship, even when my voice doesn’t want to sing. I choose to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, even when I would prefer to serve myself.
“Choose you this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
How about today, we choose to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)? Regardless of what you face right now, choose to “give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever” (Psalm 106:1).
Gratitude unlocks the door to a heart of contentment, for contentment is never found in abundance alone. Contentment flows from the abundance of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11).
What are you grateful for today?
