Colossians 2:6-7 (TLB)
Just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Norman Vincent Peale wrote, “A basic law: the more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.”1 A grateful heart is something every Christian desires, but one we cannot attain on our own.
To be filled with true gratitude, we must first be empty of every negative emotion. The little October story I tell the nursing home residents uses a ceramic pumpkin as a visual. Explaining that God has chosen them and has a beautiful plan, I tell how He opens our hearts and cleans out all the yucky stuff—despair, anger, unforgiveness, hostility, jealousy, complaining, quarreling—ugly impulses that rot us from the inside out. We can’t be filled with His spiritual gifts of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) until He does His cleansing work on our hearts and empties us of our natural, human negativity. Only His great, gentle hands can do this!
Gratitude, I think, is our soul’s response to His love and goodness. Once we are clean inside, He gives us new eyes to see the beauty of His world. Jesus said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22 TLB). If we perceive goodness and beauty around us, our faces will naturally break into big smiles that will bless others and elicit smiles in return.
Of course, we must not forget the lovely light He places in our hearts. As we express our gratitude to Him and others, we will find beauty and love filling us and shining out to all around us.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, cleanse our hearts so we may truly experience Your gift of gratitude. Amen.
Work Cited
1. Peale, Norman Vincent. Norman Vincent Peale’s Treasury of Courage and Confidence.