Gratitude

One of the things that the pastor’s wives have done recently is we each picked an area that we would like to grow in and study over the next year. Of course when I’m given an assignment like this about 10 things immediately come to mind, but we kept it simple and just picked one. So while I could have picked any number of things I went with gratitude.

I used to think of myself as a pretty grateful person…that is until about two years ago or so, when the Holy Spirit helped me to recognize that I often take things and people for granted and assume that I have a right to or deserve certain things (like a peaceful conversation with my husband at dinner time!). In short I became aware that there was a lack of thankfulness in my heart and my life.

My hope and my prayer for this next year is that God will use my study of gratitude to bring about a change in my heart - So that at this time next year, by God’s grace I will be a more grateful person.

I’ve just started doing some reading on the topic of gratitude and thankfulness and already I’ve found some great quotes. I especially like this one from Jerry Bridges because it reminds me that as I seek to change in one area of my life, it will inevitably affect other areas as well. Here’s what he writes in his book The Practice of Godliness:

“Thanksgiving promotes not only the glory of God, but also humility in us…thanksgiving also stimulates our faith….thanksgiving promotes contentment…thanksgiving will also promote contentment about possessions, position, and providence by focusing our thoughts on the blessings God has already given, forcing us to stop spending our time yearning for things we do not have.”

We can’t change in every area all at once, but we can pick one area to focus in on and with God’s help experience genuine change. So where might God be calling you to grow in godliness over this next year?