Congratulations! You are alive and well to witness another Thanksgiving Month - October. It’s your season of celebration and rejoicing in God’s presence (Amen). Our theme for the month is of course “Gratitude”. What is gratitude, and how may I practice it - you ask? Please read on as I make an effort to decipher what gratitude entails. Gratitude in Christianity is an intentional spiritual practice that helps you notice and appreciate God and His work in your day to day life. It is also an attitude that helps you to see and celebrate the good in the lives of others and the world around you. So, I can confidently say that Gratitude is an emotion similar to appreciation, and would like to rewrite the word as “Gr-attitude” or “Gracious attitude” 

Gratitude is easier said than done though! Because, life often forces you to focus your thoughts on what is bad, what needs to be fixed immediately, what crisis must be prevented, what new thing you need now to make your life better etc., and this makes you naturally grumpy.  And this is  understandable, but that is not the will of God for His children. Therefore, learning to push aside all these negative thoughts to focus on the good aspects takes practice and practice. And it starts by submitting to the infallible Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says

“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:6 makes it better by adding: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done”. 

There are some deliberate actions that can help you to cultivate the habit of gratitude. Wake up every morning and say thank you Lord for life. Set time aside each day to make a list of what you are thankful for; start with the tiniest details. You need to tell other people “thank you” when they do something kind for you, no matter how small the deed. DO NOT allow other people’s bitterness or negativity, or any other outward circumstance, to influence your inner peace. Look for the best in everyone, and believe and say the best about people. Know that anger, disappointment, failure, and frustration are all parts of life, but don’t let them become your default emotions - don’t dwell in the atmosphere of anger. Choosing to live from a place of gratitude brings peace, therefore  build gratitude around you with small, daily, unexpected, undeserved acts of love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness.

Above all, be grateful to God for all you have. You don’t need to look for big miraculous things to be grateful. Jesus Christ showed that gratitude can begin with very little things. According to Mark 6:37-44, there was a day when it seemed like Jesus and His followers wouldn’t have enough to eat, Jesus looked up to heaven and gave thanks to God for the little food they had. When Jesus did this, the little they had turned into an abundance. If only we understand that everything we have is God’s—including the very capacity to work, engage in business, create and produce, sell, and build wealth—we will be grateful to God. The gratitude series will include the Power of Gratitude, Biblical examples of grateful people, positive mindset and all will be well.

Read Psalm 100:1-5.

Pst Nike & Wole