“Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for Your many blessings. Make us mindful of the needs of others. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This Thanksgiving, take stock. Are you a grateful person? What are you grateful for? The Lord has given you and me many blessings–spiritual and earthly, eternal and temporal.
I once heard someone ask: “If the Lord removed everything for which you had not given thanks, what would you miss?”
This Thanksgiving, let’s take steps to become more grateful.
#1: Decide to become characterized by gratitude. Make up your mind.
#2: Ask the Giftgiver to give you a grateful heart.
#3: Spend time, at least 30 minutes, listing every spiritual and temporal blessing you can in that period of time. Thanksgiving Day is a great time for this, but pick additional days throughout the year as well. Your birthday. Christmas. New Year’s. Easter.
#4. Develop daily routines to reduce grumbling and increase gratitude:
– When you catch yourself grumbling, deliberately give thanks for something instead. (See Who are you grumbling at?)
– At the end of the day, every day, identify three things for which you are grateful. Think about what happened to cause those good things, and see God’s hand behind them. If you journal, write them down.
– Routinely share with others things for which you’re grateful. Sharing helps cement your thankfulness.
God commands us to give Him thanks (for example, Ephesians 5:20, ). We are told not to grumble (for example, Philippians 2:14).
(See Give thanks. Always. In everything.)
“Give us grateful hearts, our Father, for Your many blessings. Make us mindful of the needs of others. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Happy Thanksgiving!
