Developing a Lifestyle of Joyful Gratitude

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m an avid Kentucky basketball fan. Did I say avid? I was ministering in Romania in 2014 when the Wildcats made it to the March Madness Championship Game. I had taught a full seminar on Friday/Saturday and was scheduled to speak at three different churches on Sunday. So, what did I do? I got up at 4:30 am Sunday morning, Romanian time, to watch UK beat Wisconsin in the Final Four. I was up again Tuesday at 4:30 am to watch them play the championship game where, unfortunately, we lost to the University of Connecticut. But since the game wasn’t broadcast outside the US, I ended up watching it on my iPad via FaceTime through our son’s computer, which he placed in front of his TV in his apartment in Dallas, Texas. I know that’s a bit crazy, but I told you I love Kentucky basketball.

Kentucky has a new Men’s Basketball Head Coach this year. Mark Pope was a co-captain of UK’s 1996 Championship team, and he bleeds Kentucky blue. He has brought a new energy and excitement to the team and fanbase, with the media covering everything Coach Pope says and does. Recently, I was intrigued by a clip of him addressing his team after a practice session. He said, “Gratitude is a skill that, if you practice, will give you a joyful life regardless of your circumstances. It’s a skill we need to practice. You can practice it every single day. Grateful people are joyful people. There’s no way around it. If you’re grateful, you’re joyful.”

A skill is an ability that comes from training or practice. It’s something you develop. It’s a choice, a series of decisions we are called to make every single day which develops into a mindset. For us as Christ-followers, Gratitude is a command. Here’s what the Apostle Paul says in I Thessalonians 5:16-18: Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22, Paul utilizes the imperative mood to outline how we are expected to conduct ourselves as believers. In other words, He gives us a series of commands we are expected to obey about how we are to live. Snuggled into the last part of the list are three short commands that form one sentence: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” No matter what we are facing, good or bad, tragic or ecstatic, we are to do three things: Be joyful, be prayerful, and be grateful.

Be Joyful! The word translated rejoice means: to be glad; to be merry; to take pleasure in; be full of joy. Always means…well, always! Paul is saying that we are to be full of joy at all times and in all circumstances, including the bad ones. In fact, true joy has its greatest proof in the midst of sadness, affliction, and distress. Rejoicing in the face of deep pain and loss is one of the greatest apologetics for the Gospel’s power in our lives and is rooted in a deep faith and an unshakable hope in Christ. When we choose to rejoice in the most difficult situations, we are practicing a defiant nevertheless, which can only come from a deep trust that “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

Be Prayerful! Prayer is the privilege God grants to us that allows us to cultivate an intimate relationship with Him. Through prayer, we worship Him, hear his voice, and share our hearts and needs. When we pray, we are exhibiting both faith and humility. Faith—because we believe that our sovereign and gracious Heavenly Father controls all things, including our lives. Humility—because we recognize we don’t control anything and we’re in desperate need of God’s help in every aspect of our lives. Paul tells us to pray continually, which means without interruption; unceasingly; constantly. One commentator used this imagery, “Just as a person with a hacking cough is not always coughing although the tendency to cough is always there, so the Christian who prays without ceasing is not always audibly praying, yet prayer is always the attitude of his heart and life.” This attitude toward prayer is how we stay constantly connected to and desperately dependent on Jesus. In other words, prayer is how we abide.

Be Grateful! We are to give thanks, or perhaps more accurately, return thanks for everything. Our response to the grace of God is to be one of consistent gratitude. Gratitude comes from a humble heart and is the opposite of a sense of entitlement. An entitled spirit says, “I deserve better than this.” But a heart of gratitude flows out of the realization that we don’t deserve anything from God except judgment, yet, through the Cross, God graciously gives us everything in Jesus. In Christ, everything is grace—everything is a gift. By faith, we know that everything comes to us through His hands of mercy, and therefore, we can give thanks in every circumstance. Notice Paul doesn’t say we are to be grateful “for” everything, but rather we are to be thankful “in” everything. Huge difference! We are to meet everything we face in life, not with a pessimistic resignation but rather with an unfailing gratitude.

Paul instructs us to be joyful, prayerful, and grateful at all times and in all things. Why? It is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. What is God’s will? It is God’s will that we maintain an attitude of rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks no matter what happens because it reveals our faith in Him. God permits what He could prevent for His greater glory and our greater good. He prevents what He could permit for the same reason. And we can always rejoice and be grateful whenever He works for His glory and our good.

Years ago, our friend Mike Wells taught us that there is a two-word answer to every circumstance in life, whether good or bad. It’s the same two words, whether it’s the best thing or the worst thing—whether you won the lottery without buying a ticket or you lost everything in a storm. The two words are “Well, Amen!” In Hebrew, amen means “God is faithful! God is reliable! God is trustworthy! God has us and He has this!” Since then, our family has learned to practice saying, “Well, Amen! God, I can’t wait to see what You’re going to do now.”

Joyful, prayerful gratitude reveals a deep trust in God’s sovereign grace and goodness in our lives.

Will you choose to practice thanksgiving? And might I suggest that we don’t just practice it on the 4th Thursday in November, but every single day!

Happy Thanksgiving Y’all!

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