As you give thanks this week, consider the following benefits of gratitude:
• It cultivates a positive perspective.
• It starves a negative perspective and eliminates cynicism and pessimism.
• It acknowledges truth — that we have been blessed.
• It takes your eyes off of yourself and puts them on God.
• It brings us in line with God's will (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
• It transforms your attitude and puts you in a position to receive more from God with a right heart.
• It increases awareness of God's presence.
When life is hard, it's easy to get cynical — to focus on what God hasn't done rather than what He has done. The result is a glass-half-empty perspective that keeps getting worse; the more we look at the empty half of the glass, the emptier the whole thing looks. Gratitude may be the only way to get out of that downward spiral. The act of giving thanks has a transforming effect. It's an intentional focus on what God has already done. When we choose to give thanks, we are aligning ourselves with truth and fulfilling God's will. Gratitude reverses the negative snowball effect and spins it in the opposite direction. The result is a growing awareness of God's gifts and an increasing sense of His presence.
Remember that on Thursday — and every day, for that matter. God gives good gifts for our enjoyment. One of the best ways to honor Him is to actually enjoy them.
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