Six Ways to Seek a Spirit of Gratitude - By Bonnie Roof

What does it mean to be grateful?? Webster's dictionary defines the word "gratitude" as: the state of being grateful, thankfulness. Sounds simple, right?? But do we fully appreciate the extent of gratefulness when it comes to God's gifts to us??

Most of us would agree that we have a lot to be thankful for. Many of us live a lifestyle full of conveniences- we wear nice clothes, have no shortage of clean water or healthy food, live in comfortable homes, have reliable transportation, access to quality healthcare and education, and basically live a good life with security, safety and a lot of freedom. It's easy to take these blessings for granted and even get into the bad habit of focusing on what we "don't" have - while millions of people around the world live without the necessities of life. A homeowner may complain about cleaning her home while those without a place to live would love to have a house to clean. Someone who owns a car may complain about the cost of regular maintenance and unexpected repairs while a person without transportation dreams of having a car to drive.

You've probably read or heard the story of the lady who, one day, asked God why He let so much happen to her that day - she woke up late, her car took forever to start, at lunch - her sandwich was made wrong and she had to wait, on the way home - her phone went dead just as a call came through, when she got home - she just wanted to soak her feet in her new foot massager and it wouldn't work. God responds by commenting: the death angel was at her bed that morning and He had to send one of His Angels to battle him for her life - He let her sleep through that, He didn't let her car start because there was a drunk driver on her route that would have hit her if she was on the road, the first person who made her sandwich that day was sick and He didn't want her to catch the illness as He knew she couldn't afford to miss work, her phone went bad because the person calling was going to give false witness about what she would say during that call, and that foot massager had a short that was going to throw out all of the power in her house. Probably just a story - yet our God intercedes on behalf of His children so often, similar situations of which they are often never aware. These are simple inconveniences but isn't it often the little inconveniences that frustrate us and tend to set our mood for the day?

How do we obtain a spirit of gratitude?? Some suggestions:

(1) Say to yourself, several times a day: God loves me.

(2) Keep a Gratefulness Journal and record answered prayers, things received, and favor shown, etc..

(3) Learn to enjoy seemingly insignificant blessings we often overlook: going to the grocery, getting dressed, sending e-mails, driving to work, and hundreds of other routine activities. So much of our time is spent in these activities - why not learn to enjoy and appreciate them??

(4) Realize that each moment we're given is a gift from God - He owns us, everything we own, and everything created.

(5) Praise God throughout the day - while we work. No matter what we're doing, we can praise God.

(6) Appreciate our trials because they're what make us grow, mature in godly character, experience more of His power and learn more about Him. 

Please leave a comment for an entry in this week's GIVEAWAY!! We are giving away two copies of Jen Turano's new novel.