“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ – the Message – have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives – words, actions, whatever – be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.” – Colossians 3:15-17 (Msg)
Each day, each moment really, we have the choice to be thankful. At times our hearts may overflow with gratitude and it takes very little effort to speak out all that we’re thankful for, the words seeming to just roll off our tongues. But let’s face it, it isn’t always easy to be thankful. When circumstances aren’t going our way, or when we somehow seem to have landed under a mountain of chaos, it’s definitely more challenging to be thanking God every step of our journey.
Cultivating thankfulness is a spiritual discipline that takes practice, and sometimes maintenance, as to whether our heart is carrying the right attitude or not. If we’re saying the words outwardly but our heart is full of fear, anger, frustration, perhaps what’s being spoken is actually in vain?
Thankfulness begins on the inside of us… training our mind to be thankful regardless of our emotions, our circumstance, and our surroundings – it takes effort, practice, and intentional thoughts. When our lives outwardly match the inward state of our heart, not only will our insides hold a posture of gratitude, but our outside lives won’t be able to contain the expressions of thankfulness from being shown.
How we think, what we say, and what we do, are the greatest demonstrations of what’s going on in our heart. This is why we need the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit to saturate our lives – to move in every facet of our being. This is why we need the Church – friends who encourage, instruct, motivate and lead us to place honour where honour is due – all in the name of Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
In the quiet of our time alone with God today, may we have the courage to ask Him to reveal to us, the state of our heart. Let’s ask Him to give us a heart of gratitude, so that we can cultivate thankfulness in every area of our life - giving full expression in how we think, what we say, and what we do.
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