Choosing Gratitude: 30 Day Challenge: Day 1

We just wrapped up our Summer Bible Study reading of "Choosing Gratitude" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  Please join us...whether you read the book or not...in our 30 Day Challenge of Choosing Gratitude.  The challenge will be posted here each day for the next 30 days.  These 30 days will lead right up to our Fall Bible Study (more info coming soon!).  We would love to hear how God is transforming you and blessing you through this challenge so please leave a comment to share YOUR journey to JOY.

We encourage you to start a Gratitude Journal as you journey through these next 30 days...and beyond! 

(Taken from "Choosing Gratitude" by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.)

• Record a key thought and any further insight you gain from each day's Scripture reading, in relation to thankfulness.
• Record your responses to questions and assignments throughout this 30-day devotional.  This will include "gratitude lists" in several different categories.
• Write out prayers in response to your study and meditation.
• Each day, make a list of five things you're thankful for that day.  As you look for things to include each day, you'll be amazed at how your eyes are opened to see His mercies that are "new every morning  (Lamentations 3:23).
• Jot down other Scriptures you come across that relate to the theme of gratitude and thanksgiving. 
• Capture any additional insights the Lord shows you about gratitude as you make this a focus of your thinking.  Record how you're doing as you seek to cultivate a grateful heart.  Identify what the Lord shows you along the way--heart issues that need to be addressed, "triggers" to ingratitude that you need to watch our for, helps in becoming more grateful, consequences of ingratitude and blessings of gratitude, the impact of grateful people on those around them, etc.

Day 1: Defined by Gratitude

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3:12-17

We've said that "gratitude is learning to recognize and express appreciation for the benefits we have received from God and from others."  Let's break down these components a bit further today:

To "recognize" what we receive each day, the eyes of our heart must be open and alert.  This means constantly being on the lookout for blessings, making each day a treasure hunt.  I have a friend who makes a habit of thanking the Lord for ten things every morning before he gets out of bed.  He wants to start his day by focusing on the goodness of God, rather than whatever problems or challenges he may have to deal with that day.

To "express appreciation" means that what's in our heart needs to come out!  It means being intentional about thanking God and others for the blessings that come our way.  It also means frequent opportunities to invest back into those who are involved in our lives.  It's our return gift to them--and to the Lord.

Being mindful of "the benefits we have received" helps squeeze bitterness and entitlement from our hearts, replacing negative, depressing thoughts with the realization that our loving Father has showered us with good things, and that even the "bad things" in our lives are "benefits," intended to make us more like Jesus.

Gratitude changes the way we start the day, spend the day, and look back on the day.  It defines us as people who value our relationship with God and with those He's placed around us.  By thanking Him and others throughout the day, we are expressing humility, realizing these "benefits" are all undeserved.

GRATITUDE IN ACTION

• Overall, how would you rate your "Gratitude Quotient"?  (If you're not sure--or you want to know how others would answer that question about you--ask a couple of people who live or work with you...people you know will be honest with you!)  Check any of the following that apply:
• I look at the world through grateful eyes and consistently express my gratitude to God and others.
• I know I've been greatly blessed, but I don't often stop to actually express my gratitude to God and others.
• To be honest, I had not thought a lot about gratitude until reading this book.  I've got a long way to go to develop a lifestyle of gratitude.
• I'm a whiner!  I tend to focus on my problems and I frequently express them to others.
• Write a prayer asking the Lord to cultivate in you a more grateful heart over these next thirty days.  If you have realized that your "Gratitude Quotient" is not what it should be, confess your ungrateful spirit to the Lord.  Ask Him to forgive you and to transform you by the power of His Spirit into a truly thankful person.
• Write down and memorize the definition of gratitude at the beginning of today's reading and reveiw it whenever you're feeling less than thankful about where you are and what's going on.