A dear man of God visited another man of God at his base. While the two ministers interacted, the man of God made a remark about the attitude of his host; “I noticed you have said praise God, thank you Jesus, etc., about twenty times within these few minutes. Is that your secret?” His host just smiled. Truly, gratitude is an attitude.
Friend, gratitude is an attitude. What are you grateful for (Colossians 1:12)? Gratitude is the attitude you need to scale new altitudes (Habakkuk 3:17-19). It is only great fools that are ungrateful. If you take any act of God for granted, you would be grounded in life. No act of God is small, and none must be taken as such. God is a big God, and He only does big things.
Gratitude is a function of perspective (2 Corinthians 4:18). While there may be a few things you wished had happened in your life before now, there are a lot of other things that have happened. Gratitude says; “I choose to see the rose among the thorns rather than focus on the thorns among the roses. I would thank God for what could have happened but did not happen rather than focus on the negatives that happened” (Lamentation 3:22).
Gratitude is a choice. You can choose to be grateful (Habakkuk 3:18). It is not because things are bad that you are ungrateful; it is because you are ungrateful that things are bad. The same reason for ingratitude can be the same motivation for thanksgiving. It is a choice.
Gratitude is a command. It is the will of God for you, no matter the situation or circumstance (Malachi 2:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Gratitude is the secret of multiplication. What you thank God for, multiplies, and what you complain about diminishes (John 6:11). Like the prophet Habakkuk, you can leverage thanksgiving and rejoicing to gain speed, cover lost grounds, and scale new heights (Habakkuk 3:17-19).
Let me request that you commit to giving thanks to God, especially today. It does not matter what is happening to you or around you; you owe God thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:20). If you think deeply, you would realize that God has been good to you. I know you have listed prayer points for the coming year; what about your “Thanksgiving Points” for this year, too? You need to be intentional about it. What are you grateful for?
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria