There are about 400 passages mentioning gratitude and thanksgiving.
Here are some of the benefits of gratitude:
Gratitude defeats toxic emotions
Gratitude reduces pain
Gratitude improves physical and mental health
Gratitude improves sleep quality
Gratitude aids in stress regulation
Gratitude reduces anxiety and depression
Gratitude improves relationships and opens the door to people and opportunities
Gratitude IS THE EVIDENCE OF MATURITY
Gratitude pleases God and brings His blessing
Gratitude is the
.
Fulcrum Def: the point on which a lever rests or is supported and on which it pivots.
a thing that plays a central or essential role in an activity, event, or situation.
Your leverage is only as good as your fulcrum.
Leverage on soft ground requires something stable and firm
- Any situation (lever) plus Gratitude (fulcrum) = the best result possible.
In 2022 we are called to Adopt an attitude of
Col 2:6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
Col 2:7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. —NKJVCol 3:17 Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father. —GNB
GRATITUDE IS THE
OF GOD FOR US.
1Th 5:12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
1Th 5:13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
1Th 5:14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
1Th 5:15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
1Th 5:16 Rejoice always,
1Th 5:17 pray without ceasing,
1Th 5:18 in everything give thanks; for this is theof God in Christ Jesus for you.
1Th 5:19 Do not quench the Spirit.
1Th 5:20 Do not despise prophecies.
1Th 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
1Th 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil.
1Th 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. —(NKJV)
You
a thankful heart by
to be thankful. It is an act of your
.
- Gratitude is the will of God and builds character.
- V16-18 These three verses will take a lifetime to learn.
- These are the disciplined responses to life’s
Col 3:14 Most of all, let love guide your life, for then the whole church will stay together in perfect harmony.
Col 3:15 Let the peace of heart that comes from Christ be always present in your hearts and lives, for this is your responsibility and privilege as members of his body. And always be thankful.
Col 3:16 Remember what Christ taught, and let his words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord** with thankful hearts.**
Col 3:17 And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with him into the presence of God the Father to give him your thanks. —TLB
The will of God is less about
and more about
.
- Gratitude is the cure for Analysis Paralysis / Procrastination
If I don’t know what God’s plan is for my life. I must start by being thankful for what I have and for how HE already sees me. - Whatever you do, do something that honors God.
1Co 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. —NLT
1Co 10:23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.
1Co 10:24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
1Co 10:25 So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience.
1Co 10:26 For “the earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it.”
1Co 10:27 If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience.
1Co 10:28 (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.
1Co 10:29 It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?
1Co 10:30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
1Co 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
1Co 10:32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God.
1Co 10:33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
- *Gratitude is God’s idea and even though secular psychology preaches the benefits of showing gratitude, secular humanism can never reach the full potential or experience the most powerful benefits of gratitude. Only gratitude as a response to a real relationship with Jesus can have the outcomes God intended. *
1Co 10:31 **So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.** 1Co 10:32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. 1Co 10:33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. **I don’t just do what is best for me**; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.Gratitude walks hand in hand with
. God
the humble.
- Whatever doesn’t get turned into grateful
- Gratitude removes the roadblock that pride will use to derail your purpose
- > Pro 16:18 First pride, then the crash— the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. —MSG
- Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking about yourself less.
Jas 4:2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Jas 4:3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
Jas 4:4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
Jas 4:5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him.
Jas 4:6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Jas 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Jas 4:8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.
Jas 4:9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.
Jas 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
Jas 4:11 Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.
Jas 4:12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
Boasting About TomorrowJas 4:13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”
Jas 4:14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
Jas 4:15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
Jas 4:16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
Jas 4:17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. —NLT
Gratitude should lead to generosity and generosity passes through humility ends up back at gratitude.
Freely you have received - Freely Give -
Mat 10:7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received! —NLTJas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. —(NKJV)
Deu 8:7 The LORD your God is bringing you into a fertile land—a land that has rivers and springs, and underground streams gushing out into the valleys and hills;
Deu 8:8 a land that produces wheat and barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and honey.
Deu 8:9 There you will never go hungry or ever be in need. Its rocks have iron in them, and from its hills you can mine copper.
Deu 8:10 You will have all you want to eat, and you will give thanks to the LORD your God for the fertile land that he has given you.
Deu 8:11 “Make certain that you do not forget the LORD your God; do not fail to obey any of his laws that I am giving you today.
Deu 8:12 When you have all you want to eat and have built good houses to live in
Deu 8:13 and when your cattle and sheep, your silver and gold, and all your other possessions have increased,
Deu 8:14 be sure that you do not become proud and forget the LORD your God who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves.
Deu 8:15 He led you through that vast and terrifying desert where there were poisonous snakes and scorpions. In that dry and waterless land he made water flow out of solid rock for you.
Deu 8:16 In the desert he gave you manna to eat, food that your ancestors had never eaten. He sent hardships on you to test you, so that in the end he could bless you with good things.
Deu 8:17 So then, you must never think that you have made yourselves wealthy by your own power and strength.
Deu 8:18 Remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to become rich. He does this because he is still faithful today to the covenant that he made with your ancestors.
Deu 8:19 Never forget the LORD your God or turn to other gods to worship and serve them. If you do, then I warn you today that you will certainly be destroyed.
Deu 8:20 If you do not obey the LORD, then you will be destroyed just like those nations that he is going to destroy as you advance.