The command to praise God and Jesus Christ can bring into question the what, why and how to. Those called out of the world as God’s people are to proclaim the praises of God the Father, and by extension Jesus Christ: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (1 Peter 2:9). The Greek word for “praises” in 1 Peter 2:9 means virtues, or excellence of character. In other words, we are to praise the Father and Jesus Christ for their righteous virtuous attributes, their excellence of character.
Look at God’s virtues in light of Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The Greek word in 1 Peter 2:9 translated “praises” is the same Greek word in Philippians 4:8 translated “virtue”. So God is telling us that we are to grow to possess the same righteous virtues as God:
“. . . His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (2 Peter 1:3-7).
One of the most misunderstood virtues is gratitude. The definition of gratitude is interesting. The Roman orator Cicero is credited with stating this regarding gratitude: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” So all other virtues or excellence of character grow forth from the root of gratitude. It has its own strength and all the other virtues are made stronger through the virtue of gratitude. When one thinks of virtues, we can think of the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Also humility, although not listed as a fruit of the spirit, it is rooted in gratitude. Therefore, gratitude is critical to our spiritual growth and the fruit we are to produce
In today’s vernacular we tend to use the English words like gratitude and thankfulness interchangeably. But those words are not as interchangeable or synonymous as we would think. In the Psychiatric Medical Care website (psychmc.com), there is an article entitled “The Difference between Gratitude and Thankfulness”. Quote: “Thankfulness is defined as an emotional reaction to an event, while gratitude is defined as a chosen state of being.”
For example, when some event takes place, it brings us pleasure in the moment. We usually respond to the source of pleasure with appreciation and thankfulness. Thankfulness involves a pleased response to a moment in time. While it is important to express thankfulness when someone shows us kindness, thankfulness of and by itself is not enough to keep an ongoing positive mindset.
This is where gratitude comes into play. Gratitude is a purposely chosen attitude of appreciation under any of life’s circumstances. Gratitude means expressing thankfulness and being appreciative of life, no matter your current situation. We look at life and choose to view it differently than a situation usually evokes in us.
Gratitude does not falter. Gratitude knows the unhappy and difficult events are just a part of life, yet chooses to be happy, or at least content. The Apostle Paul expresses this purposely chosen attitude of appreciation very adequately: “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Philippians 4.10).
Paul chose to learn to be content. It was a purposeful choice. When we choose to practice gratitude, the outward expression of thankfulness becomes a natural result. It has a sincerity behind it. And that sincerity is not based on the value of whatever it was that someone did for us; it’s based on a relationship that we have with God, and also with the person.
Current behavior research, like from psychmc.com, reveals that: “Gratitude has strong positive impact on both moral and pro-social behavior.” That just means good behavior in social settings, that you’re a nice person, and you treat everybody nicely. However, when we look at the world, we see that it is not pro-social behavior.
One statement in this article is: “In society, [gratitude] is one of those cycles that we need because it’s never ending and it literally changes society.” So when we choose to practice a cognitive awareness of gratitude we won’t take life for granted. These studies show that gratitude works, not just in the people of God, but in the human mind itself. According to various sources, gratitude serves as a moral barometer in three primary functions:
- Moral Barometer Function: Gratitude responds to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of another person’s moral actions, acknowledging the goodness and kindness of others.
- Moral Motive Function: Gratitude motivates the grateful individual to behave pro-socially towards the benefactor and others, fostering a sense of reciprocity and encouraging positive actions.”
- Moral Reinforcer Function: “When expressed, gratitude encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future, creating a positive feedback loop that reinforces virtuous behavior.
Gratitude, if practiced by everyone, would result in a society of a “giving” way of life. There’s a way of Give and way of Get. The article used a way of giving as a means to develop a society, and within a family. Interestingly, they also show that when someone wants to “Get” in the middle of the cycle, it short circuits the cycle. Multiple studies also suggest that people who feel more grateful are much more likely to have higher levels of happiness and lower levels of depression and stress.
Gratitude is also considered very important to physical, mental and social health. Physically, gratitude promotes stronger immune systems. It lessens aches and pains, and it lowers blood pressure and improves sleep. Those who are grateful also tend to want to exercise more and eat better. They’re not looking for comfort food because gratitude gives them comfort, and peace of mind. Mentally gratitude creates higher levels of positive emotions and makes one feel more alert and alive and awake. They experience more joy and pleasure and raises optimism in feelings of happiness. And we all need optimism. Socially, gratitude helps individuals become more helpful, generous, compassionate, forgiving, and outgoing. These reduce the feelings of the loneliness and isolation that’s so easy besets us.
When true gratitude is inculcated and practiced in our lives, it possesses the power to change our entire lives. Author and journalist Melody Beattie defines the change that gratitude creates in this way: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns ‘what we have’ into ‘enough’, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
This quote is profound and speaks volumes concerning what gratitude is, and if lived, its benefits:
- Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
Gratitude operates as a key which, when used, changes life from something we simply get by and endure, to something we see as an opportunity to be filled up and enriched. It unlocks such things that are holding us back to where we launch forward. Gratitude has a profound impact of our overall well-being and happiness. When we focus on what we have, rather than on what we’re lacking, we begin to appreciate the beauty and richness of life’s experience and all it has to offer. This mindset can lead to a greater sense of fulfillment, contentment, and joy (Philippians 4.6).
- Gratitude turns what we have into “enough and more.”
Gratitude adjusts our view of what life has to offer by defining and evaluating our desires versus defining and redefining our true and accurate needs. Christ’s death made it possible for us to receive the Holy Spirit, which is sufficient to gain us eternity if we allow it to lead us. It’s enough.
- Gratitude turns denial into acceptance
Denial is a waste of physical, mental and emotional energy, where gratitude gives us the ability to move forward during and after traumatic events, to not wanting to miss out on the rest of life. We can see beyond trauma. Gratitude enables us to clearly see through the chaos of traumatic events. It helps us to reorder life in this chaotic world and towards our important goals. Instead of standing in a fog of confusion when bad things happen, gratitude provides the vision to cut through the fog, to see past it, and to continue life’s journey. Yes, we may skip a beat, but at least we can see enough to get around the different obstacles that may come in our way after a traumatic event (Romans 8:28).
Gratitude stops us from predefining what and how much is required to fill us up to make us happy. Gratitude is not a measure of happiness, it’s not a measure of thankfulness. It is a fact of what’s inside of us, in that we can truly understand that God can give a spiritual lift to what happens to us so that we look on a higher spiritual plane, and not at the physical.
Gratitude moves us from a physical house to a spiritual home and family. It moves us from being an organization to being a church. It moves us beyond that to where we are actually a part of a larger spiritual body of Jesus Christ. Gratitude focuses on reconciling relationships. It turns a stranger into a friend. God’s spirt give us the desire to restore and reconcile broken relationships because God does not see anyone as strangers.
So gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. It puts our temporal existence on the Earth into an eternal perspective. So what can we do to develop or raise the level of gratitude in our lives?
- Begin every morning asking God to help us have spiritual vision and strength to purposely choose His way of life.
- Conduct a deep study of all the promises of God in scripture.
- As events happen to us throughout each day, purposely choose to stop, examine them for a moment, and strive to place them within the framework of gratitude.
- When you feel gratitude, purposely find ways to serve others.
Allow that cycle of gratitude to grow within yourself and to reach out to others to begin the cycle there. That strengthens the cycle and anchors the habit of choosing gratitude to be become embedded in the way of life. That is a purposeful choice of an attitude. When we practice it, it no longer becomes a purposeful choice. It becomes automatic and a part of our life, and the natural way that we live. And that’s what the Holy Spirit is about. That’s what conversion is about, changing the mind and living on the spiritual level.
Bill Hutchison