Gratitude Isn’t Natural

My wife took my 2- year old daughter to the craft store recently. As they walked through the aisles, my daughter began to express her wonderment with oohs and ahhs. She was captivated by the colorful fabric, craft kits, and pre-made wooden structures as she passed by them. One of my other daughters said it was one of the cutest things she’d ever seen.

A child can put the world into perspective for you. What she saw as amazing, many of us would take as ordinary. It’s a good reminder that we take for granted much of what we have in life.  All of the ordinary blessings are often relegated to the back of our minds.

The difficulties of this past year make it easy to long for a future that’s different from our present reality. The hope for a vaccine and a more normal life is not bad. If we are not careful, we will fail to be grateful for what we’ve been given already.

We don’t become grateful by waiting for the feeling to come over us, it must be practiced. Even the apostle Paul knew gratefulness didn’t come naturally.

He told his readers in Colossians 3:15,  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…And be thankful.” Be thankful is a command. He knew how easy it can be to take all that God has done for us for granted.

This Thanksgiving is a great time to start practicing gratefulness. Start your day/meal by remembering what Christ has done for you. Throughout your celebration, encourage others to remember the big and small reasons they can be grateful. Finish the day off by telling each person why you are thankful for them. These are just a few ways to infuse your day with gratitude.

Let’s not practice the act of Thanksgiving one day a year, let’s make it a habit for the rest of 2020 and beyond.