Gratitude is an area in my life that needs much work. It’s a habit I would like to create. They say it takes 21 days to establish a new habit. The good news is, there is plenty of time before Easter arrives.
I really do want an attitude of gratitude. I just don’t think about it nearly as often as I would like. There are no shortages of scripture verses on gratitude and thankfulness. I think some homework is in order. Perhaps a scripture verse a day on the subject, at least that is a step. Change of attitude will not occur without some concrete steps.
Jesus says, gratitude is a condition of the heart. What is your heart bent towards? Bent towards…? A tendency is what comes to mind, an inclination or direction. How does my heart tend to react or inclined to respond? Grateful or unappreciative? Sadly, I must confess it is the latter. Some heart work is definitely in order.
Spiritual agility and perspective will help with heart tendencies. I can see these as tools Jesus has given to help change the bend of my heart. Circumstances and situations have less impact at bending the heart away from Jesus when a heart is more firmly rooted in the practice of gratitude.
“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.” Psalm 118:2
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I find the more grateful I am, the more God shows up! He really loves when our hearts are ‘inclined’ to automatically thank Him and acknowledge Him for all our blessings! Love this my sister!
Gratitude journals are generally helpful. I remember hearing about them many years ago, and they were popular enough to create a market for a “product” to meet that need – but any bedside notebook will do. Some like to end the day with it – writing down three things you are thankful for that day – but I also benefited from beginning my day thanking God for three things. These were often the same thing: thank you for a good night’s sleep, my comfortable warm bed, and confidence that I can face what this day will bring. Evening gratitude was more often specific to the day. It does become a habit and a self-soothing exercise that you will find yourself applying to unexpected (e.g. unwelcome) surprises during the day, but every cloud has a silver lining. Good luck!