The Power of a Grateful Heart

“Gratitude changes who we are inside and enables the Lord to shine His love through us as we touch the lives of those around us.”

In America, each November they celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday. They pause to give God thanks as they remember a time of peace between their early British settlers and the Native Americans who came together during the harvest season for a great feast.

Together, they gave thanks to God for His bounty, protection, and provision.

They took time to be grateful.
Those resolute, pioneering settlers left everything to come to this land where they could start over and worship freely. They had a dream and followed it, even though it meant leaving behind all the comforts of home…all that was familiar…all the safety they had come to depend on. Those times were incredibly difficult, and many lost their lives.

Yet they stopped and gave thanks.
In addition to their incredible courage and perseverance, they were people with tremendous faith and trust, grateful to God for His many blessings. This is why it’s so important that we stop and remember their amazing example.

Choosing to Be Grateful
It’s so important to bring gratitude to the forefront of our daily lives—not just during a special holiday, but all year long. But living a life of gratitude is a choice. Life doesn’t have to be perfect in order for us to give thanks—we can choose to be grateful, regardless of our circumstances.

How different our outlook on life would be if only we would choose to have thankful hearts like those early settlers—regardless of the challenging circumstances we endure. What a difference it would make for us and those around us if we replaced complaining with thanksgiving…looking for things to be grateful for throughout each day.

Although it may sound a bit corny, it’s true: It pleases the Lord when we have an “attitude of gratitude.”

As a family of Believers, the presence of Jesus in our hearts should cause us to interact with one another with peace and thankfulness:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:15-16).

Entering His Gates
My friend, when we truly understand the tremendous gift God has given us through His grace, kindness, and love, how can we not approach Him with heartfelt gratitude and praise? Doing so changes who we are inside and enables the Lord to shine His love through us as we touch the lives of those around us.

Scripture exhorts us to approach the Lord with thankful hearts. Here are just a few examples:

Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations (Psalm 100:4-5).

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night (Psalm 92:1-2).

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

And I love the beautiful description we’re given of the incredible praise and thanksgiving surrounding God’s throne in Heaven:

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 7:9-12).

Oh, how I long to reflect this heavenly gratitude in my life!

More Than Conquerors
Our lives are transformed when we allow heavenly gratitude to fill our hearts and spill over into our daily lives. By fixing our eyes on Jesus and all He has done for us, we can be more than conquerors in whatever situations we face (Romans 8:37)!

Think how our day would be impacted if when we awaken each morning, we would choose to say, “Lord, thank You for this day. Thank You for the blessing and privilege of belonging to You and serving You. Thank You for what You have in store for me today and for what You’re going to teach me and do through me.” By choosing to be grateful, our daily life will be a reflection of His grace to the world.

God’s presence is so evident when I cultivate a heart-attitude of thanksgiving, and I sense His delight when I’m expressing my gratitude to Him. Thankfulness creates an atmosphere of faith, and our faith pleases Him so much (Hebrews 11:6).

In an atmosphere of faith and thankfulness, God’s miracles happen!

Together, let’s give Him thanks with grateful hearts—today and every day.
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