Cultivating a Heart of GratitudeParaugs

Where Does Gratitude Come From?

What does it look like to cultivate a heart of gratitude?

In this reading plan, we will wrestle with the hard truth that everything we have been given - including all of the blessings and suffering we have encountered - is a gift from God. We will discuss how to avoid three common traps that rob us of experiencing gratitude. And finally, we will consider the impact that a heart overflowing with gratitude can have on everyone else around us. But first, we must turn our attention to where gratitude comes from.

The Gospel of John records a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water from Jacob's well. The conversation begins with Jesus asking her for a drink of water and ends with Jesus revealing to her that He is the Messiah. Overcome with gratitude, "the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" (John‬ ‭4‬:‭29‬ ‭ESV) Like the woman at the well, ‬‬God knows our past but accepts us as we are through grace.

For a follower of Jesus, true and lasting gratitude - that comes from a transformed heart - begins at the foot of the cross of Christ. Romans 5:8 tells us that "God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us." It is through Jesus's life, death, and resurrection that we can be forgiven of our sins, allowing us to be reconciled to the Father. As an apprentice of Jesus, we have been given the keys to the kingdom of gratitude. Why? Because as people created in the image of God, we can't experience the fullness of gratitude apart from a saving relationship with Jesus. This recognition of God's generosity in our time of need cultivates a heart of gratitude.

Dallas Willard once wrote the following words about the intersection of grace and gratitude: "gratitude is an expression of appreciation, an articulation of what we have received. Like a receipt, our gratitude is evidence of the transaction of grace from God." In the presence of God, we experience the fullness of God's grace and goodness. The Holy Spirit is continually at work in us, planting seeds of thanksgiving that, with time, grow and mature into a heart of gratitude.