Gratitude is the Best Attitude

“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”   Zig Ziglar

  Earlier this week I sat through a presentation to raise funds for a great cause. But one of the things that really stood out to me in the presentation – misspelled words. The project is putting in new bathrooms for a school of 400 students in a 3^rd World country. It’s a great and worthy project and compared to American costs, very reasonable. Yet, I found that I was more focused on a few misspellings than the huge impact of this project.

  Please understand, I’m not suggesting that we become sloppy and overlook misspelled words or other errors, and not aim for excellence. What I am confessing is that I’ve been so contaminated by a sinful world, that my tendency is to notice what is wrong before I notice what is right.

  With 10 stalls for 400 students, 5 for girls and 5 for boys, I’d surmise those students don’t care what it’s called – whether a bathroom, restroom, toilet, privy, washroom, powder room, loo, lavatory or some slang term. They’re just thankful that they have a bathroom with indoor plumbing.

  Are you like me? I find that the Spirit is continually convicting me for my petty, ungrateful heart. I have to be spiritually aggressive with my sinful spirit that’s more prone to groan than to give gratitude.

  John MacArthur insightfully writes, “A thankful heart is one of the primary identifying characteristics of a believer. It stands in stark contrast to pride, selfishness, and worry. And it helps fortify the believer’s trust in the Lord and reliance of His provision, even in the toughest times. No matter how choppy the seas become, a believer’s heart is buoyed by constant praise and gratefulness to the Lord.”

  For the past few weeks I’ve been thinking about what trait or traits most identify and distinguish a Christian. I was wrongly taught and believed for too many years that it was behavior, appearance or following a list of rules. I was a very good Pharisee.

  I’m so thankful that sanctification is a lifelong process and that my Heavenly Father is so patient with me. As I look through the pages of Scripture, there is a consistent identifying trait for a godly person, someone who is maturing in their walk with the Lord – constant gratitude. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, is permeated with hymns of praise. We end in eternity with praise in our hearts that flows from our lips.

  Yet, gratitude is a habit that must be empowered by God’s grace and continually cultivated. Every believer has a life filled with blessings now that overflows into eternity. It’s not a matter of what we have or what’s  going on, it’s what we see and focus on and fill our minds with.  

  Recently, I read of a study that took three groups of people and had them go for daily walks. The first group was told to focus on the good things they noticed, the second one on the bad and the third group was told just to walk for exercise. What was the result?

  At the end of the week, when the walkers’ well-being was tested again, those who had deliberately targeted positive cues were happier than before the experiment. The negatively focused subjects were less happy, and the just plain exercisers scored somewhere in between.

  The point, according to the researchers, is that “you see what you look for. And you can train yourself to attend to the joy out there waiting to be had, instead of passively waiting for it to come to you.” What I found very noteworthy was that though this wasn’t a Christian study, these individuals had significant positive change because they learned to focus on what we call “common grace.” Unknowingly, they were living out the Lord’s command: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

  Nothing so sets apart a believer as gratitude. We can be the kind of people who truly feel and appreciate the good in life because we know who it comes from (James 1:17). At first, like any habit, it takes work. It requires continued focus. Yet, if we develop the habit of gratitude, it will radically change us and our testimony for the gospel. Here are a few simple steps to help you begin.

  Confess ingratitude and pray for grace to grow in gratitude. We must by confession clear out the filth in our hearts so that the Lord can fill it with grace and gratitude. It means being honest and coming clean. Afterall, Jesus died for our sin of ingratitude. But most of us don’t take the sin of ungratefulness seriously. The nation of Israel learned a hard lesson and spent 40 years wandering the wilderness because of grumbling.

  Limit contaminations of bad news in your life. Personally, I rarely watch the news. I may listen to the headlines or scan them on a periodical, yet I don’t linger there. That’s because rarely is there anything encouraging. Most is broadcast void of a biblical worldview, that even in the “bad” God is in total control. Then, I avoid negaholics and seek to surround myself with grateful people and those who see God’s hand in this world.  

  Increase the amount of good news in your life. It’s rare to find a miserable believer who is faithfully in their Bible. Spending time in God’s Word changes our outlook and help us be aware that God is working even when we can’t see it and helps us see life from His eternal perspective.

  Start early, yet start small. Begin your day thanking the Lord for another one. Throughout your day look for God moments, little blessings like the beauty of His creation or some unexpected kindness. Perhaps keep a log and write down a blessing or blessings from each day.

  Ask the Lord to help you see those things from His perspective which most easily cause you to complain. I’m not a masochist. I don’t like trials. Yet, I know from Scripture that my Father is behind trials. Of late, I’ve been asking Him to use them to burn away dross and make me more like Jesus. It’s changed my perspective of trials from something to get through to that which I’m confident He is using to make me into His masterpiece.

  Would those around you describe you as a grateful person? Do they hear the song in your heart because you know Jesus and are confident that He has everything under control, even the trials?

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Yelping for His Glory!

“Technology and social media have brought power back to the people."   Mark McKinnon

  Are you travelling this summer? Going on vacation? When you’re on the road, how do you determine where you’ll stay or where you’ll eat?

  Jane and I will hardly step foot into a new place without first checking it out on either Tripadvisor or Yelp. TripAdvisor has become the most commonly accessed travel review website today with up to 50 million users every month and is the most widely recognized, used, and trusted travel website. Among 3,641 users surveyed by PhoCusWright, 69% found TripAdvisor reviews to be “highly or extremely accurate;” 92% agreed with the statement that TripAdvisor hotel reviews “help me pick the right hotel for my travel needs;” and 83% usually or always take a look at TripAdvisor reviews before selecting a hotel. Social media officially took over travel in 2010—or so the scientists say. That’s the year, according to a Cornell study, that “guest experience mentioned in customer reviews” became the factor most frequently cited by consumers in surveys about the process of choosing a hotel. While most of us still look at a hotel’s web page, what has more credibility though aren’t those pristine professional hotel pictures, but the average person’s review of the hotel. The hotel is a paid salesman whereas the reviewer is a satisfied (or dissatisfied) customer.

  Most churches have web pages and Facebook pages. For an outsider, those fall into the category of “paid sales people.” While they have some merit, they don’t have the powerful influence a satisfied church attendee has. And it has even more potency when the post isn’t on an “official” church website or social media outlet. 

  Can I encourage you to prayerfully consider using social media for Kingdom purposes? How can we do that? Let me offer some suggestions.

  Pray and think before you post. Social media has replaced talking with our tongue to talking with our fingers. All of us regret saying something that was poorly timed, said in haste, was hurtful or even sinful. The same is true when we’re talking with our fingers. God has promised to give us wisdom (James 1:5). As we know that the Lord Jesus hears what we say, He sees what we post. Words on a page lack the added clarification of tone or facial expression. Most of us hear written words at a much louder volume than they’re often intended. Obviously, if you wouldn’t say it to the person if they were right in front of you, you shouldn’t post it.

  Use social media to build bridges, not walls. Social media has redefined communication. It’s replaced personal interaction, phone calls and e-mails. People are relaying their most private and important information in semi-public status updates. The very nature of authenticity and identity is being challenged. With the push of a button, one can transform themselves into whoever they want to be. Facts about myself can be added or deleted. “Friends” are casually collected and I can transform myself into the very person I wished I were back in high school.

  Yet, with all of our “friends,” a sad outcome of social media is increasing isolation and loneliness among users. You may have lots of people you consider friends, yet not have any confidants with which you can discuss deep personal matters. Facebook allows people to connect, but users lack the meaningful bond that results from intimate conversation and contact.

  As part of a church family, the Bible commands us to encourage community, “one anotherness.” As a Christian, my priority must first be “us-ies,” not “selfies.” It’s one reason that when we’re with other believers, we should let those outside the family know it, and not just when we attend a worship service. Lost people aren’t surprised when a Christian attends church (hopefully, they’re surprised when we skip). Just as most of us post pictures when we’re with our biological family, when we post pictures and comments when we’re with our spiritual family, it sends a message of supernatural family and our love for God and each other to a lost and lonely world.

  Use social media to direct the focus toward a victorious returning King, not a deteriorating, dying world. This world is a big mess and everyone knows it. So is it something that a Christian needs to continually draw attention to or obsessively post about? So why do we?

  For most of us, the problem doesn’t begin with our posting, it begins with our thinking. Zig Ziglar used to call it “stinkin’ thinkin.” When we’re secularized by the negativity of a lost world, we fail to obey Scripture and think like a believer. Philippians 4:8 is a command, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

  Yes, we must deal with sin and negative things. But if we truly believe that Jesus is King and that He really is in control, and that one day soon the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18:25) will bring justice and right every wrong, then all that’s currently wrong shouldn’t be our habitual mental diet. A Christian should be the most encouraging, positive, grateful person that most of their friends know. That should come forth from words whether verbal or in a post. When our thinking is spiritual, it will overflow with the fruits of the Spirit. When we are living out our mission as the “salt of the earth,” a thirsty lost world wants what we have.

  Obviously, we need to be discerning. Yet, if others can post when they’re blitzed, should a believer be ashamed to post how the Lord answered a prayer, or something they read in their devotions that touched their life, or a special song that encourages them, or how the message during worship moved them? When the Lord stretches your soul, it helps advance His Kingdom to let others know it. Even when you’re on vacation and visiting a church, think how you might encourage that family of believers by sharing how God used their ministry to be a blessing to you. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if every believer had a non-official “Tripadvisor” account where we faithfully posted how the Lord always walks with us, guides us, blesses us and shapes our trip on our journey through this life? It’s not that everything is perfect yet even in the mess of this world, we’re never alone. Maybe it would encourage our friends who don’t yet know Him to check out having our Savior as their “Tripadvisor,” too? 

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