The Power of Gratitude

A new year is on the horizon. Anticipation is in the air. Fresh starts bring hope. As a result, goal and resolution lists are quickly drawn up. Before you grab your daily planner, reach for your journal. It is important to look back at the previous year before you set out a course for the new one. One of the best ways to plan for the future is in grateful reflection on the past. William Penn once said, “The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their trouble.” Count your blessings with me, learning the joys gratitude brings.

1. Gratitude helps you reconnect with family and friends

We are daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and more. In the many roles we have, consider the gratitude we show. Maybe your family member has done 10 things wrong and only one right. Verbally thank them for that one thing. Not that you dismiss their wrong but that you show them your love despite it. So often we think by criticizing our loved ones we’ll make them better people yet if someone is constantly nit-picking our own wrongs, we will feel judged and not loved.

Words of affirmation are like a balm to the heart, use them generously. Showing gratitude to our family and friends reminds them they are valuable. Appreciating people for their presence and the good they do in our lives goes a long way. Kindness has a multiplying effect. Thanking someone makes them want to do more of that good thing. Next time they will be inclined to do two things right, maybe even five.

In spite of our many sins, God chooses to see us through the lens of the one good thing we do, follow Christ. Grace melts the heart. It is what brings a lasting change in the human heart. Extend this same grace to your loved ones. Watch it change them.

Applications:

• Replace complaints with compliments. For every critique you have, add two compliments.

• Serve someone. Show gratitude by doing something that would lighten the load for someone in your life

• Write a gratitude list to your close family and friends. Give it to them or read it out.

• Verbally thank a family member and friend, daily, for at least one thing.

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, love each other deeply, for love covers a multitude of sins.

2. Gratitude keeps you from discouragement

Looking back at your goals for the year can be disheartening. So much you could have done better. Perhaps you should have improved your relationships, managed your money better, or made good choices. Seeing all you set out to achieve but didn’t is disappointing. It’s not bad to desire to improve. The problem comes when you look at your life through the lens of a microscope; amplifying the errors and catastrophizing situations. To look at isolated events of what we did wrong is very deceptive. It only tells half the story. Knowing Christ tells the other half of our story.

Personal development isn’t about the goals we achieve but ultimately who we are becoming in Christ. Christ redeems our stories. He forgives our sins when we repent. He guides us to right living. Not only does he makes us better people but also sanctifies us into holiness. In his mercy, he makes beauty from the ashes of our wrong choices. Christ orders our steps according to his goodwill. In believing in Christ, our lives become connected to a greater story of salvation.

Christ makes you more than you could ever be alone. With him, you can see and be grateful for your achievements, whether big or small. Knowing that even when the ash overwhelms the beauty, God is still in his children’s story. Follow this God if you haven’t. The world values outward success, but the greatest thing you can celebrate about yourself is that you are in Christ. Day by day, if you let him, he will make you more like himself. Trust that he can redeem your life when you go astray.

Applications:

• Write down 3 things you are proud of. It could be something as small as learning to wash the dishes daily or as big as graduating.

• Write down 3 virtues you are learning.

• Write down the ways your life has been different since you started following Christ

• Thank God for his gift of salvation and sanctification in your life.

Philippians 1:6

Being confident of this, that he who began the good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.

3. Gratitude brings peace

I’ll admit it, I wasn’t in the habit of being grateful until recently. The change began when I started keeping a prayer journal. This year, on my birthday, I read my entries for the past 4 years. I was shocked. It was like looking at my life through snapshots of highs and lows. God had seen me through more than I can even remember. I was overwhelmed with thanksgiving. The similar storms I am wrestling through now were stilled then. Recognizing how God helped me then gave me deep comfort. Somehow reflecting on the days past in gratitude gave me peace presently. Looking back, I can smile at the days ahead.

Life moves fast. We have tasks to do, people to meet, and dreams to chase. If we don’t stop and count the blessings God gives us, we’ll forget they’re even there. The new year only amplifies the desire to speed up. It’s easy to be anxious when you’re living life in the fast lane. But if you stop and look back, you’ll be amazed at how God has been carrying you all along. The prayers he answered, even those you ever petitioned. The needs he met. The people he brought into your life. The very life you have. Great is God’s faithfulness indeed. Habitual gratitude reminds you of this. Know that the God who carried you then carries you now and evermore.

Applications:

• Write down the blessings you received in each month of the year. Name them one by one.

• Write down the prayers God has answered each month of the year. Thank him for them.

• Praise God in song.

• Ask God for guidance as you make your plans for the new year. Obey his leading. Commit your ways to him.

Psalms 136: 1-2

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! For his mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! His mercy endures forever.