Life isn’t all sunshine and roses. When life gets hard, it’s easy to focus on what is missing or what is going wrong. It can create a spiral of anger, worry, and discontentment.
But what if there’s a shield you can put up? One that protects you from getting worn down by disappointment or despair? There is—and it’s something you’ve probably already heard of.
Gratitude is key.
Gratitude isn’t just about being polite or saying thank you. It’s an entire mentality that shapes how we experience life and is the key to unlocking satisfaction and peace of mind. Practicing gratitude helps many people turn their focus from what’s going wrong to what they can find contentment in.
New scientific studies are also proving this. They’re finding that practicing gratitude can improve your mood, increase empathy, and lead to positive changes in how your brain processes happiness. Grateful people are happy people!
But first, we have to understand what happens when we don’t have gratitude.
The effects of living without gratitude
Increased anxiety and discontentment
There’s certainly a connection between a lack of gratitude and increased anxiety and discontentment. When we focus on what we lack, we feel restless and unsatisfied.
Maybe you made the varsity team, but didn’t get much playing time. Instead of being happy you made the team, you were angry you sat on the bench. Cue discontentment!
Or maybe you got the job at your dream company, but got passed for a promotion. Instead of focusing on how you can keep improving, you stress over the things you can’t control. Cue anxiety!
Philippians 4:6-7 is a powerful part of the Bible that directly talks about worry, gratitude, and experiencing peace. It gives us a simple solution for the anxiety and worry that plague us: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Strained relationships
Our choice to either practice gratitude or give into worry and discontentment have a serious impact on our relationships as well. Without gratitude, we often take people for granted. This leads to resentment and disconnection. Relationships fall apart as people get hurt and feel used.
Thousands of years ago, the Israelites struggled with the same thing, and we have part of their history recorded in Exodus 16. To set the scene, the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for many years, and God had just set them free. Now, they were travelling back to their homeland. There was just one little problem.
They had to travel through the desert.
If you know anything about deserts, you know they are hot, there’s barely any water, and there’s not a lot of food either. The Israelites were faced with a choice: would they be grateful they weren’t slaves anymore and trust God to provide food? Or would they be upset and discontent?
The Israelites picked the second option. Instead of being grateful, they complained. Even after God provided food for them, they still refused to be grateful. Instead of being joyful and content, they were frustrated and angry. (Follow the Israelites on their journey and discover how God provided for them in this Bible Reading Plan!)
A weakened faith
Sometimes, it’s easy to be like the Israelites described in Exodus 16. When we focus on what we don’t have, it makes it harder to trust in God’s goodness. This can lead to a weakened faith, where it’s harder to pray or read the Bible. It’s hard to tell others about God when we’re upset and don’t trust him.
That’s why gratitude is so important! When we practice naming all the good things God has done, it’s so much easier to see how much God loves us.
How gratitude transforms our lives
Gratitude shifts our perspective
When we practice gratitude, instead of thinking about all the things that are going wrong, we start to see more of God’s blessings. The big ones, the small ones - they’re all easier to see when we start looking for them.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says to give thanks in all circumstances. It’s easy to be grateful when the sun is shining and everything is going well. It’s a lot harder to practice gratitude when things are going wrong and life is hard, but that’s when it’s most important to focus on God and the good things he has done.
Gratitude is a year-round lifestyle.
It strengthens our faith
Gratitude also strengthens our faith in God. The more we focus on his goodness, the easier it is to trust him to provide for us in the future.
Psalm 103:2 says, “Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”
Thanking God and praising him are both fantastic ways to strengthen our faith. The more we focus on God’s goodness, the less we will be sucked into the doom spiral of discontentment and worry.
It leads to greater joy and peace
Science and Scripture both agree on how gratitude is a lifestyle that can lead to contentment instead of worry. If your default mentality is to complain, practicing gratitude will retrain your brain to focus on the good things. Even if it’s hard at first, it’s worth putting in the work! One of the best ways to become a life changed by Christ is to practice being grateful.
How to practice gratitude
All of this is easy to say on paper, but what does practice gratitude actually look like? Here are 4 ways to live with gratitude:
- Start a gratitude journal. Every day, write down at least 3 things you’re thankful for.
- Say “thank-you” prayers. Before you ask God to do something or give you something, thank him for what he has already done.
- Tell other people you’re grateful for them. Verbally expressing appreciation is one of the best ways to retrain your brain to be grateful. Sending a text message is great too, but nothing beats actually saying it out loud.
- Pause throughout the day to notice and thank God for the little things.
Will you choose gratitude today?
Being grateful isn’t about ignoring hardships. It’s about choosing to see God’s presence in every season despite the hardships. Practicing gratitude is a choice that can be difficult in the moment, but always pays off in the long run.
What’s one thing you can thank God for today?
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We know that gratitude is closely tied to prayer, but prayer isn’t always easy. Here at LCBC, we would love to pray with you about whatever is going on in your life. You can ask for prayer or check out The Power of Prayer: a 6-day Bible Reading Plan to learn more about personal prayer.
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LCBC stands for Lives Changed By Christ. We are one church in multiple locations across Pennsylvania. Find the location closest to you or join us for Church Online. We can’t wait to connect with you!