How to Live in Thankfulness

How to Live in Thankfulness

How to live in thankfulness.

Isn’t it interesting – and frustrating – there are things we need to relearn again and again? How do we forget the good things so quickly? Why do we lose our way so fast? We just had our summer vacation and we’re already stressed out. It’s time to relearn to live in thankfulness.

One of the most essential things in Christian living is to live in thankfulness. It might seem too simplistic or too obvious and we might think we already practice it. Maybe that’s true to some extent but why do we then get stressed out if we say we already live in thankfulness? You know, thankfulness is the best antidote to stress there is.

Why is this so important? Our life happens while we are stressing out about the future. Is that what we want our life to be all about? Stressing out about eternally irrelevant stuff? No way! I want to live enjoying little things. Then my life will be about enjoying life as it comes. How do we get there? The Bible shows us how:

Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, AMP)

We get there while we live in thankfulness. When we continually give thanks to God, we pay attention to little things around us. If we think a warm cup of tea/coffee is too obvious to be thankful for, we bypass happiness which thankfulness brings. Thankfulness also brings awareness of God and his bountiful blessings.

How to live in thankfulness

  1. Start your day with God in prayer. It reminds you that you’re not the center of the universe but God is. Hence the universe is not on your shoulders but God’s. So there’s nothing to worry about. But there are tons to be thankful for. So surrender to God and leave your worries at the cross. Your day will be remarkably different [read: better] than otherwise.
  2. Count your blessings throughout the day. Write them down or take pictures of them if that helps you to be alert for them. Be God-expectant, look for God to act around you. Give thanks to God for food, for friends/family, for 5 minutes of peace and quiet. The more you give thanks, the more thankful you become. When you live in thankfulness, you live in the present and you do not have time to worry.
  3. If worries try to steal your happiness, know what to do them. Dump them at the foot of the cross right away. You don’t need to find solutions for them, you just need to know to whom you bring them. Jesus is aware of you and your needs and he is ready to help, just ask him and you will receive. This works, my friend. Practice it and soon you find you can’t leave without channeling your worries to Jesus.
  4. Share your happiness with others. Compliment your co-workers, say thank you to your barista. Open a door for a tired mom or help out your neighbor. Multiply kindness. When you live in thankfulness, there’s no reason to be selfish, there’s enough grace for everyone. So share it lavishly with everyone you meet. It will bless you too.
  5. At the end of each day, give thanks to God (no matter how hard your day was). Take your time to remember how good God was to you during the day. Give your misgivings to Jesus and bask in his healing grace. Know that there will be even more grace waiting for you tomorrow. Live in thankfulness and become a grace-sharer and your days as a worrywart are over. Thanks be to God!

Let us pray

Dear God,
Thank you for calling us to live in thankfulness
so we can enjoy our lives and
not spend them worrying about eternally irrelevant stuff.
We don’t want to be worrywarts,
teach us how to live freely in you.
Thank you for your patience and
endless ways of helping us out.
Help us to become grace-sharers.
Bless us to bless others.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Are you a worry-wart or a grace-sharer? Please, share your best tips to live in thankfulness!

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you learn to live in thankfulness!

Photo by Taylor Deas-Melesh on Unsplash.

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