GRATITUDE

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:4–5)

The quoted verse invites us to enter God’s presence with an attitude of gratitude. This has become very difficult for most of us, especially if we think about the difficult year we had. In our personal lives but also in our country and even world wide – it has been an exceptionally challenging year.

We often rather complain and show our discontentment. We focus on all that we don’t have and on everything that went wrong rather than the many blessings God has poured into our lives despite our failures and troubles. Actually it has been in our difficulties that we experienced God’s grace, kindness and goodness. The wisdom in these verses is for us to enter, begin, start, initiate, and lead with thanks and praise. When we begin with an attitude of gratitude it builds faith. When we remember God’s past and present goodness, it gives us confidence in his steadfast love which endures forever. When we remember God’s many promises that He will always be with us in all circumstances we will react differently.

Gratitude is an attitude. It is not dependent on what we have or don’t have. It also does not depend on the situation we are in. You can have two people who have been given exactly the same things. One may live grateful everyday while the other lives ungrateful. In our community there are people who have much less than we have, but they have a gratitude we cannot understand.

Gratitude cannot be manufactured. This month we celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas is designed to nurture gratitude in the hearts of all believers. We contemplate on the meaning of the Saviour taking on human form to be with us. Christ is the Immanuel. He is the One close to us and guiding us through life and giving our lives hope and meaning. Celebrating Christmas is a celebration of gratitude. We are not left to our own devices, but He is with us.

Our gratitude is a measure of the spiritual condition of our heart. The more and more I am filled with the grace of God the less room I will have for discontentment and dissatisfaction. When we lack gratitude it will lead to envy, anger, and impatience.

Gratitude is an attitude that God develops within us. It is the work of grace and the Holy Spirit in our lives. Gratitude is a gift we receive. We don’t create gratitude but we can certainly nurture it.

I want to encourage us to consider how we might more intentionally nurture gratitude in our lives. Here are some ideas that I got from the lectures when I did the course in Spiritual Direction:

· Keep a daily prayer journal. List what you are thankful for each day.

· Make a practice of writing weekly thank you notes to people who have been a blessing to you.

· Take a prayer walk and reflect upon God’s goodness in creation.

· Set a reminder on your phone or an alarm on your watch to help you daily reset your mind on gratitude.

· Open God’s Word which reminds us of all that God has done for us.

· Serve others with your gifts.

· Limit your exposure to media that is trying to tell you that your life is not complete until you have bought their latest and greatest product.

· Be generous with what you have.

· What are some other ways in which you intentionally cultivate gratitude in your life?

God’s blessings for a gratuitous Christmas and prosperous 2017!

With thanksgiving and love,