Completing Project MeSample

Dripping with Gratitude 

Giving thanks is an activity; being thankful, on the other hand, is an orientation or a personal characteristic. It is tied to character. Living a life of gratitude is not dependent upon finding something for which to be thankful. It is a state of heart and mind. A grateful person has a thankful orientation. A truly grateful person might have a difficult time isolating just one, two, or even five things for which they are thankful. They live in a perpetual state of gratitude for virtually everything around them. And even in the most difficult experiences, they seem to find things for which to be thankful—tests to their patience, the gift of slowing down, the lessons learned when not getting what they want, an opportunity to live out their faith, the person who stood with them in a time of need, a deserved correction from a trusted friend, the comfort of the Holy Spirit in a time of difficulty, and, yes, the blessings along the way. The list goes on. The possibilities are endless for the grateful.

Being thankful is different than giving thanks. Anyone can do the latter. Very few are the former. Thankfulness should be considered a virtue. It is a virtue few possess but all can express it at least a little. Compare gratitude to love. Loving people love because love is in them. It does not need to be contrived or constructed. Their orientation is love. They would be called loving people by all who know them. They do not turn it on to impress or please a few select people. They genuinely love people who are both easy and difficult to love. We recognize them as loving. Loving others is not a selective act reserved for those who meet their needs. That kind of deep and pervasive love is what Jesus said would change the world (John 3:16). It is what makes his disciples stand out as different from the rest of the world (John 13:34–35). Those who live in love live in God because God is love. 

This reading plan was adapted from Completing Project Me .