The Spiritual Work of Gratitude

To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.

Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God. -Henri Nouwen

Gratitude is a tremendous tool in the hands of those who practice it. Gratitude makes you appreciate the value in things; makes you less resentful towards others; helps you recover more quickly from stress, adversity, and suffering; makes you more empathetic, forgiving, and loving; increases your self-worth, and for those suffering discouragement and depression, gratitude can be restoring and renewing. An attitude of gratitude can be life-altering in the best of ways. This is why the Scriptures teach, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thes. 5:18).