Second in a two-part series about choosing an attitude of gratitude.
In at least 162 places in the Bible, God references His desire for us to show gratitude.
There are commands (“give thanks” and “offer thanksgiving”) along with actual demonstrations that model how and why to offer gratitude (“thanks be to God who has given us the victory”).
That we give thanks to God is evidently very important to Him.
The Tension in Gratitude
Image: Bible Drill Sheets
But gratitude presents a tension. More than a dozen dictionaries define gratitude as “a feeling” of thankfulness or appreciation. If you don’t “feel” grateful, is it not hypocritical to express thanks?
On the other hand, when you don’t feel gratitude – and thus don’t express it – you may use the absence of feelings as an excuse. Imagine this encounter with God at the pearly gates: “I didn’t feel grateful, God,” you say. “So I didn’t thank you.”
God would not give a command to “give thanks” and then leave you stranded with no way to follow it. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind” (Luke 10:27). Your feelings (heart) are not the only element engaged in the “giving thanks” equation. You use your will, mind, and strength, too.
Actions Create Feelings
Most of us are comfortable with the idea that feelings produce actions: you feel sad and then cry. You feel generous and then give. You’re in love and you hug your beloved.
Yet our actions can create feelings, too. Science backs up this truth. Such was one of the lessons learned from the landmark 1971 Stanford prison experiment, in which psychology professor Phillips Zimbardo divided 75 volunteer students randomly into two roles. “Prisoners” were arrested by “guards” and held in a mock detention facility created in a university classroom building basement.
Within a very short time, student behaviors produced strong emotions, regardless of the role a student played. “Guards” exercised enormous control over prisoners and harassed them brutally, developing harsh, even sadistic feelings of power. “Prisoners” became dependent, depressed, and submissive, experiencing emotional distress, bouts of crying, and uncontrollable anger. So intense were the emotions produced by the experiment that it was halted after just 6 days – although Zimbardo had planned for it run for two weeks.
Among the many conclusions of the experiment was the power of a person’s actions in creating feelings.
Grateful Actions Produce Grateful Feelings
No feelings of gratitude? That is no longer an excuse. A person’s actions can create feelings.
Start taking concrete steps each day to show gratitude to God. Give Him thanks for blessings large and small. Act grateful. Tell God how much you appreciate His movement in your life. Engage your mind, will, and strength to demonstrate thankfulness.
Even if feeling grateful doesn’t come naturally to you, you can jumpstart the process. Feelings will come … when you act grateful.
It begins when you make a choice to show thanks.
