It is November 1, 2018. As the calendar year of 2018 continues to speed by, we now find ourselves in the month that we have a major holiday that we call Thanksgiving. On November 22nd, people will gather together around a big meal with family and friends to celebrate this day. We will eat, laugh, tell stories, eat some more and yes – we will be thankful and filled with gratitude.

Gratitude in the life of a believer should be an everyday experience. Certainly, I love the Thanksgiving holiday where there is a focus on being grateful, but I believe our hearts and lives should be thankful on a daily basis for God’s provision for us.

Gratitude (Thanksgiving) is not a season that we celebrate in November but a lifestyle that we live by every day.

Colossians 3:15-17 reads, “15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

In these verses, we are reminded 3 times to be thankful. It seems to me that these verses encourage us to develop a lifestyle that is filled with gratitude.

How do you develop this kind of thankfulness as a lifestyle?

  • Intentionally choose it

Gratitude will never be a result of your next purchase, success, or accomplishment. It is available in your heart right now. And you will never find gratitude in life until you intentionally decide to choose it.

  • Count your blessings

You have wonderful things in your life already. Gratitude quickly sets in when we begin to spend a quiet moment each day remembering them. This practice alone has the potential to change your heart and life immeasurably.

  • Stop focusing on what you don’t have