Gratitude
Series: Spiritual Practices: Developing Life with God
November 28, 2021
Welcome...each of you here...and online... so thankful for this time.
Today... continue to let God show us how we can connect with him... through spiritual
practices... and today... a little briefer exploration of the practicing...gratitude.
Gratitude is one of the first things we are told to learn... say “please” and “thank you.”
Of course that can make gratitude an obligation...something you say.... more than something
you feel.
Or we begin to think of gratitude as an obligation simply owed...as if God has a need.
> It’s more about a connection than a contract... more about what we discover than what we simply
owe.
“It’s not joy that makes us grateful, it’s gratitude that makes us joyful.”
- Jesuit priest
This is why those who found the deepest connection to God called us to practice giving thanks. [1]
Psalm 95:2
"Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with
songs of praise!"
Notice we come with thanksgiving... and joy is what arises.
It’s been noted that gratitude is actually at the very core of happiness. [2]
I think of my grandmother...we called “Nana”... had the least in material wealth... yet you
have never met anyone as grateful. Cut coupons every morning. She saw everything as the
best. She got a colonoscopy...and said... it was the best.
Some of may think...well we just don’t experience joy... like others... so it’s hard to be
grateful.
You may think that gratitude works for those for who see the glass as always half full
...and you may be one of those who see it as half empty.
What can help us practice gratitude?
Offer a few quick truths that can be helpful.
1. Stop focusing on what we don’t have.
Take a fresh look at what you already have (... rather than living for the “if” and “when” of the might
have.)
Perspective: Live less in the “if” and “when”...and more in the now.
Stop living for the “if” and “when”
Untether your heart from the “if only” deprivation of
The grass is always greener on the other side. We have all probably heard this phrase. At some
point in life, we have all wanted for more than we have been given and have looked at someone
else and envied his/her lot.
If you were to consider how many times each day am I being told there is something I need...
something that will satisfy a desire ...and compare that to how much time is given to taking in the
goodness of what we have... it become clear that we are shaped to want more.
I am being formed to never be happy... to never really appreciate anything I actually have.
This is not to suggest that there are not some true needs... but we all know that our actual needs
are few...and usually met... and it’s the “wants” that consume our hearts more than the our most
basic needs.
And so we relate as the deprived... and the deserving.... who should have what others have.
God says this is one of the central ways we become enslaved... it’s called ENVY and coveting. [3]
And when He sets a people apart from the powers of this world... to live as those who are free... one
of the big 10...the 10 Commandments is “You must not covet” what your neighbor has. (Exodus
20:17) [4]
The truth is that we become enslaved by wanting what others have... that wanting is calling
coveting...and the underlying desire is called envy. envy is resentful desire of something
possessed by another or others (but not limited to material possessions).
Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
James 3:16
For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil
practice.
The root of what will consume the heart... is envy... focusing on a jealous desire to have what we
don’t have.
The heart at peace is the heart that embraces what it has.
It is here that gratitude can fill life... rather than the dissatisfaction that steals life.
Holiday season
Timely.... because every day we will be told it’s about getting something.
> What if we decide this holiday season to make it about appreciating what we have been given.
“If the Grass Looks Greener, It's Probably Astro Turf”
This leads to the next help in practicing gratitude......
2. Start being amazed at life.
Become mindful of what you have.
Psalm 118:24
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
If I stopped and considered what I have the opportunities... encounters... surroundings...I could list
100 things that were amazing.
Surrounded by air... warmth... home... connected to people... food to eat... and taste...
In general I feel I am just going through what needs to be done...and generally focused on what I need to
accomplish... in a way that seems oblivious that I exist with countless forms of amazing goodness all around
me.
So let me ask us to consider a few questions.
What do you see around you? (Hear, smell, etc.)
Who do you see in others? (Their gifts, goodness, shared life, etc.)
What do you see in you? (What are you grateful for about you?)
And finally...
3. Say thanks... realizing everything good is a gift.
Being amazed is wonderful...but then comes realizing and recognizing that the good is a gift. [5]
All that is good comes from the source of good... every good is a gift. The good was actually given.
We’re not lucky...we’re loved.
And it’s the process of saying “thanks” that connects us to the giver.
It’s a connection that we see in Jesus...
When given a small bit of food to feed a crowd... it says he lifted it up...and gave thanks to His
Father...
That was his practice... his pattern... that we want to cultivate.
And today... we have a chance to raise up something... and give thanks for.
TIME OF OPEN GIVING OF THANKS (Open mike from those attending and in online chat room)
Notes:
1. Some other calls to give thanks:
Philippians 4:6-7
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:18
"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who
belong to Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 NLT
Psalm 118:24
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 107:1
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"
2. Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier, Harvard Health Journal, August 14, 2021 - here
Research has linked gratitude with a wide range of benefits, including strengthening your immune system
and improving sleep patterns, feeling optimistic and experiencing more joy and pleasure, being more helpful
and generous, and feeling less lonely and isolated.
3. We find the sinful nature of envy amidst the heart of what the Apostles called all who follow Christ should
confront.
1 Peter 2:1 - Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander
Galatians 5:19-21 - The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry
and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:26 - Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Titus 3:3 - At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and
pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
1 Timothy 6:4 - they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in
controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions
4. Exodus 20:17 - "You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male
or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor."(NLT)
5. Robert Emmons, psychology professor and gratitude researcher at the University of California,
Davis, explains that there are two key components of practicing gratitude:
1. We affirm the good things we’ve received
2. We acknowledge the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness
