Choosing Gratitude: Week 5

Hello, friend! Are you ready to begin your journey toward greater joy? Join us for our Summer 2023 Book Club-Style Bible Study. We're reading "Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy" by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. This book challenges and equips us to live a life of gratitude.

What is gratitude? Gratitude is a choice. It is a decision to focus on the good things in our lives, even when things are difficult. When we choose gratitude, we are choosing to be happy and content. Why is gratitude important?

Gratitude has many benefits, including:

• Increased happiness and well-being
• Reduced stress and anxiety
• Improved physical health
• Stronger relationships
• Increased creativity and productivity

GRAB YOUR BOOK HERE AND LET'S GET STARTED!

"When we take simple blessings for granted as if they were owed to us, or conversely, when we start to think that our house, our car, our wardrobe, or our general station in life is beneath what we deserve, ingratitude finds all the oxygen it needs to thrive.

One of the unseemly side-effects of all the effort and energy our society has invested in building our individual and collective self-esteem is that our culture is now rife with this super-high level of deservedness." —Nancy DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude

So how do we cultivate a life of gratitude? There are many ways to cultivate gratitude, here are a few:

• Keep a gratitude journal.
• Write thank-you notes to people who have blessed you.
• Spend time each day reflecting on the good things in your life.
• Express your gratitude to God in prayer.

Join us for this study! Each weekly post will be posted on Tuesday mornings at 9:00 here on the blog, June 6 - August 1. Feel free to discuss the book and share your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Let's make cultivating gratitude a priority in our lives this summer!

Of Whiners and Worshipers

There are unmistakable differences in the personalities and temperaments of those with whom we do life. The extrovert vs. the introvert, the planner vs. the spontaneous, the thrifty vs. the spender. These differences and others can drive us crazy, but they also add the balance and spice to our lives that is needed. One spice we can do without though is the whiner. The complaining spirit. I rarely throw away a spice, but the whiner in me must go. It cannot blend, it cannot coexist, with worship and gratitude.

The blind hymn writer, Fanny Crosby, came to know this at the very young age of eight. She wrote,

Oh, what a happy child I am, although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in the world contented I will be,
How many blessings I enjoy that other people don’t,
So weep or sigh because I’m blind, I cannot – nor I won’t.

She made the decision early in life that resulted in the treasure we have today of over eight thousand hymns. What difference might it make in your life and in mine if, like Fanny Crosby, we were to cast out the bitter, complaining spirit and embrace the spirit of gratitude and worship? To look at the past and the present while recognizing the hand of God, and therefore lift our hearts and hands in praise as we look forward with anticipation to what the future holds? I don’t think I have the talent to write eight thousand hymns, but through a grateful spirit, God is able to work other miracles.

I want to be a worshiper.

To understand where we fall on the whiner/worshiper scale, let’s look at these six differences between the two and ask ourselves, "Am I going to choose to be a  whiner or a worshiper today?".

1. A grateful person is a humble person, while ingratitude reveals a proud heart.
   When someone is grateful, they are revealing something about their heart. Pride says, “I deserve this,” while humility says, “I am owed nothing.”
   
   "A humble mind is a soil out of which thanks naturally grows….A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.” —Henry Ward Beecher
   
   ...What do you have that you did not receive... (I Corinthians 4:7)?
   
   All of life is a gift. God gives us richly all things to enjoy (I Timothy 6:17). With a humble heart we must acknowledge this truth and grow in our gratitude for these precious gifts.
   
   "My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!" (Psalm 34:2-3)
   
   
2. A grateful heart is God-centered and others-conscious, while an ungrateful person is self-centered and self-conscious.
   I have seen this played out in my own life when I have digressed into seasons of ingratitude. It is during these times that I struggle the most with my flesh. But as soon as I lift my eyes to God and begin to thank Him and praise Him, I no longer have that desire to satisfy myself, but I begin to have a burden for the needs of others.
   
   "Grateful people are loving people who seek to bless others, while ungrateful people are bent on gratifying themselves." —Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
   
   
3. A grateful heart is a full heart, while an unthankful heart is an empty one.
   “Ungrateful people are much like a container that has a hole in it, leaking out every blessing that’s been poured in, always needing something else, something new to consume for satisfaction fuel.” —Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth
   
   Maybe you have noticed, as I have, the eyes - the expression of emptiness - of people whose paths you cross daily. We live in a world filled with empty hearts. Hearts that are longing for something more, but despite the overabundance around them, they are never satisfied. They are never filled. Things don’t satisfy. Only Christ satisfies. Only He can fill an empty heart.
   
   That’s why Paul could say even from inside the walls of a prison, “I have all, and abound; I am full” (Philippians 4:18). What made the difference for Paul? If you read his letters to the churches and individuals, you can’t miss his heart of gratitude.
   
   Gratitude = Fullness. Abundance. 
   
   "Jesus said, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10b).
   
   That is why we are later commanded, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (I Thessalonians 5:18).
   
   
4. People with grateful hearts are easily contented, while ungrateful people are subject to bitterness and discontent.
   Not only are many people today empty, but they are also sad and depressed. We cannot stay in a state of discouragement (which can lead to depression) if we have hearts of gratitude. Why? Because gratitude and discontent cannot coexist. Where gratitude comes in, bitterness and depression are dispelled. Just as darkness leaves when the light comes in. And where gratitude exists, there is contentment.
   
   
5. A grateful heart will be revealed and expressed by thankful words, while an unthankful heart will manifest itself in murmuring and complaining.
   There is no denying it. Since gratitude comes from our hearts, we can only assume that it results in thankful words. “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).
   
   "Hear what people are saying when they talk about the everyday events of their lives, and you’ll see in an instant the difference between gratitude and ingratitude." —Nancy Wolgemuth
   
   
6. Thankful people are refreshing, life-giving springs, while unthankful people pull others down with them into the stagnant pools of their selfish, demanding, unhappy ways.
   You may be familiar with the phrase, “Happy wife, happy life.” We smile when we hear it, but what it assumes is that the opposite is also sadly true. Unhappy wife, unhappy life. We could easily swap out the words “happy” and “unhappy” for “thankful” and “unthankful,” and they would still be true statements.
   
   ​Let’s not ruin the atmosphere of our homes with ungrateful spirits. Instead, let’s refresh others with a heart of thanksgiving and praise. May the joyful words from our mouths and the smiles of contentment on our faces be life-giving springs that flow from us to them and then to the needy world outside our walls.

Refresh a soul by choosing gratitude!

Are you going to choose to be a whiner or a worshiper today?

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Christian Gratitude Journal for Women

This ​Christian Gratitude Journal for Women is produced by Pretty Simple Press. It's a 52-week inspirational guide to a life with more prayer and less stress.

This Gratitude Journal is designed to help us cultivate an attitude of gratitude. It's a self-exploration journal that encourages us to focus on being thankful for what we have. We'll focus on the big things in life, as well as the simple joys. Each well-designed and deeply-inspirational weekly spread contains space for us to journal. We'll journal three things we are thankful for. We will also discover thoughtful weekly Scripture.

If we begin each day by writing down three things we are thankful for we're on our way to a lifetime of gratitude. Whether it's a family member, a dear friend, or the ability to read a good book. We will begin each day on the right path.

Grab this journal and begin a daily habit of focusing on the blessings! ​

GRAB YOUR CHRISTIAN GRATITUDE JOURNAL FOR WOMEN HERE

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