Too often, I expect gratitude to be something I accidentally stumble into. But God calls us to be people of intentional gratitude. He calls us to cultivate the virtue of gratitude until we are marked by it in the image of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.?
Three things help us here.
First, the call is constant.
This is not a call based on circumstances creating the right mix of fuzzy emotion. No, the Scripture calls for it in all circumstances. It’s underlined twice: rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances.
Second, the call is directed upward.
While every November American culture preaches the virtue of “thankfulness” it’s a virtue without a direction. Christian gratitude, on the other hand, has a very clear object: the Lord. James 1:17 reminds us that every good thing in life comes from the Lord. Our gratitude is directed uwpard.
Third, the call takes intention and effort.
This is also not a call to accidental gratitude that we stumble into occasionally. No, this is a Scriptural command that takes effort. While some personality are naturally more optimistic, and others (like me) more dour, this is call to grow more and more in the virtue of gratitude.
Fourth, the call is a joyful response.
Think of it this way: Gratitude is the exhale of the Christian life. We breathe in God’s mercy and grace, and exhale gratitude. It’s the right response to all God has done for us. In 1 Thessalonians there are pages and paragraphs full of God’s mercy that precede this command and give the substance of what we are thankful for.
WAYS TO GROW IN GRATITUDE
How then, can we intentionally grow in gratitude? Here are ____ ways to pursue. Pick one or two, apply them, then return to pick a few more. Over time the virtue of gratitude will take root and begin growing in your life.
1. Get James 1:17 on a sticky note somewhere in your life as a reminder of your intentional pursuit.
2. At the end of each week, write down some reasons for gratitude to God. I do this on Sunday night or Monday morning. Sometimes it takes real effort, but seeing those on the page shifts my heart.
3. Read and meditate on Psalm 16, noting the Psalmist’s attitude and practice of gratefulness.
4. When someone asks, “How are you?” tell your family or close friends what you’re grateful for. Saying it out loud helps your heart, and encourages them as they see God at work.
5. Read and meditate on Ephesians 2, noting the incredible grace from God you’ve experienced.
6. Tell someone you’re grateful for them. Point out how they have been a gift from God to you.
7. Read and meditate on 1 Thess 5:18 and underline the words “always” and “all” in your Bible.
8. Consider whether the thief of envy is making it difficult for you to give thanks. Are you sinfully comparing what God has given you in life to others… rather than thanking him what he’s given you?
9. Consider whether the thief of anxiety is making it difficult for you to give thanks. Rather than anxiety about the future, turn yourself for a moment backward to see God’s goodness to you in the past. He will be the same God tomorrow.
10. Consider whether the thief of selfishness is making it difficult for you to give thanks. Is there a sinful craving for comfort or ease or pleasure, a consistent and inappropriate inward focus, that’s sapping your gratitude?
11. Consider whether a persistent pattern of sin is making it difficult for you to give thanks. When there is unrepentant sin in our lives, in addition to the problem of that sin itself, the effect is often inability to see God’s good gifts. Our vision becomes warped. Confession and repentance are freedom.
12. Consider your internal dialogue during the day. Is it more marked by complaining or by gratitude? How can you interrupt complaining with gratitude in that internal dialogue?
13. Read and meditate on Phil 4:4-7, noting the commands, and circling the constant reason for thankfulness at the center of that section: “The Lord is at hand.”
14. Consider who you want to become. Do you aspire to be a happy older saint full of gratefulness, or a bitter older person marked by complaining? What would your current trajectory lead to over time? Ask God for God’s help.
15. Seize Sunday morning worship for every ounce of gratefulness. How can you fully enter in to each moment of worship with intentional thanksgiving?
16. Seize the gift of gospel songs. Where can you add some music into your days and weeks that help you intentionally thank God for his gifts of salvation, mercy, and grace?
17. When in a season of trouble, read Lamentations 3 and follow its journey. Mourn the losses and hurts of life, but then verse 22 turn with the writer toward intentional gratitude to God.
18. Seize mealtimes as moments of gratitude. See the table before you as yet another expression of God’s good gifts, and use the moment to thank God for these and other gifts.
19. Write a note to a friend you are grateful for. Use real pen and paper. Tell them how God has used them in your life and how they are a gift from God. The practice will serve you and them.
20. Write out your gospel testimony. Consider your salvation story and how God saved you. Where were you? Who shared the gospel with you? How did God interrupt your life for good?
21. Stare at future glory in Rev 20-21. Where has God promised to take you in eternity? What will life look like when in glory with him? Then, rejoice in gratitude that your salvation path leads straight toward heaven.
22. Consider your daily and weekly calendar. Are there any places you can build in some intentional times of thankfulness to God? Think a once a week family meal where each member of the family shares something they’re grateful to God for, or an intentional pause for reading a Psalm of gratitude before a difficult appointment.
23. Make a list of 23 reasons to be grateful.