Desert Journey – Day 22
Gratitude is an area in my life that needs much work. It’s a habit I would like to create. They say it takes 21 days to establish a new habit. The good news is, there is plenty of time before Easter arrives.
I really do want an attitude of gratitude. I just don’t think about it nearly as often as I would like. There are no shortages of scripture verses on gratitude and thankfulness. I think some homework is in order. Perhaps a scripture verse a day on the subject, at least that is a step. Change of attitude will not occur without some concrete steps.
Jesus says, gratitude is a condition of the heart. What is your heart bent towards? Bent towards…? A tendency is what comes to mind, an inclination or direction. How does my heart tend to react or inclined to respond? Grateful or unappreciative? Sadly, I must confess it is the latter. Some heart work is definitely in order.
Spiritual agility and perspective will help with heart tendencies. I can see these as tools Jesus has given to help change the bend of my heart. Circumstances and situations have less impact at bending the heart away from Jesus when a heart is more firmly rooted in the practice of gratitude.
“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.” Psalm 118:2
I find the more grateful I am, the more God shows up! He really loves when our hearts are ‘inclined’ to automatically thank Him and acknowledge Him for all our blessings! Love this my sister! ❤
Gratitude journals are generally helpful. I remember hearing about them many years ago, and they were popular enough to create a market for a “product” to meet that need – but any bedside notebook will do. Some like to end the day with it – writing down three things you are thankful for that day – but I also benefited from beginning my day thanking God for three things. These were often the same thing: thank you for a good night’s sleep, my comfortable warm bed, and confidence that I can face what this day will bring. Evening gratitude was more often specific to the day. It does become a habit and a self-soothing exercise that you will find yourself applying to unexpected (e.g. unwelcome) surprises during the day, but every cloud has a silver lining. Good luck!