Thanksgiving is more than a holiday that happens one day a year. Did you know that thanksgiving can be a habit and gratitude can be practiced as a spiritual discipline?
In the Christian tradition, disciplines are practices found in Scripture that are used to promote spiritual growth and formation. Some disciplines are well-known, such as fasting, prayer, and the study of Scripture. While other disciplines are less obvious, like the discipline of surrender, the discipline of listening, the discipline of denying self, the discipline of waiting. And then there is the discipline of gratitude…
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
A basic feeling of gratitude can be experienced as a result of any pleasant situation but in practice as a spiritual discipline is different. The practice of giving thanks does not involve a feeling that we wait patiently for, but a mindset that we actively and passionately pursue. In this practice, gratitude is intentionally chosen, deliberately trained, and exercised in ALL circumstances. This kind of gratitude is not dependent on changing conditions, but on a well trained mind and heart.
Selfish ambition, greed, and a sense of entitlement are all enemies of a grateful heart. Gratitude is the remedy that encourages us to look beyond ourselves to the many gifts in our lives and the sources that sustain us. In a sense, it helps us to form the habit of thanksgiving. Ann Voskamp speaks of this habit when she writes, “It’s habits that can imprison you and it’s habits that can free you. But when thanks to God becomes a habit – so joy in God becomes your life.”
The habit of thanksgiving helps to grow and deepen our relationship with God. Gratitude is an interaction between a giver and a receiver. It recognizes that a gift has been given, a favor bestowed, and urges us to respond to that gift. It completes the circle, allowing the love to flow from giver to receiver and then back to the giver again.
“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” —Sarah Ban Breathnach in Simple Abundance
The practice of gratitude helps us to awaken to grace. This discipline requires great mindfulness and awareness, it calls us to be present in the moment, to have eyes that see, to notice what we otherwise might miss. As we grow in our understanding of gratitude, we will awaken to the grace of God and all of the good gifts we have been given!
Would you like to practice gratitude as a spiritual discipline?
Download this free gratitude calendar and join me in the practice of “getting still” with gratitude!
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