You can thank me later, but let me tell you now: the scientific research on gratitude is astonishing.

Gratitude increases our physical, mental, and emotional health. It improves our relationships, work, and sleep. It helps us overcome challenges, be patient, care for others, and reduce toxic emotions. The positive value of gratitude goes on for pages.

It's like a super drug - and it's free. 

Research.com even provides a graphic that summarizes the pathway from gratitude to "True Happiness”:

Now, I'm grateful for gratitude. For years, the closing in most emails I've sent is "gratefully."

But I've always struggled to be grateful so I can get something.

Because that seems contrary to the spirit of gratitude. 

Genuine gratitude is about appreciation, contentment, and celebrating the good we already enjoy. I'm uncomfortable using gratitude to maximize my happiness rather than being sincerely grateful for what I already have. 

So, can we be grateful without being selfish?

To get there, let's consider a beautiful passage from James 1:16-18,

Don't be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

James understands that God is a good Creator. And though everything in our world is shifting, God does not change: he's always good. 

And the Creator's best gift of all? The word of truth. In his commentary, Douglas Moo mentions, "All four of the other occurrences of the phrase in the NT refer to the gospel as the agent of salvation (2 Cor. 6:7; Eph. 1:13; Col. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:15)."

Let's review the truths that James teaches us:

1. God is a good Creator and Savior.

2. God is actively giving gifts, both in Creation and in the church

3. The source of every good and perfect gift is God.

4. God freely gave us the gift of the gospel.

5. God gave us new life in Christ. 

6. We are brothers and sisters in the family of God

7. The purpose of our renewed lives is to demonstrate the goodness of God, which will one day be fully revealed. 

8. These truths free us from deception. 

So how do we grow in gratitude without being motivated by selfishness?

Step 1: Recognize and worship God as the good Giver. 

Worship is a powerful antidote to selfishness. Instead of looking at me and my need for improvement, I contemplate the goodness and generosity of God. 

Step 2: Recognize reality

My default attitude is pretty simple: It’s mine! I deserve it! Gimmie.

But this mentality reveals how deceived I am.

The truth is that every good thing is a gift.

When we get attuned to reality, we experience freedom.

We're not manufacturing gratitude so we can boost our job performance.

Upon recognizing this truth, the natural impulse is simple. We feel gratitude in our hearts, and we say, “God, thank you.”

Step 3: Community

Increasingly, many of us live in individualistic silos. We’re disconnected and suspicious.

But we grow in gratitude in community. With our brothers and sisters in Christ, we join together to celebrate what God has done, is doing, and will do in our lives. We thank God for the astonishing purpose of our lives: to be a foretaste of the coming kingdom.

Finally, if the byproduct of gratitude is that our lives improve? My friend, didn't James tell you that every good gift is from God? Even when you're grateful out of worship and obedience to God, God designed reality so that gratitude would strengthen your life. 

God says, "Hey, I want to invite you to come open these presents under the Christmas tree."

And for every gift you open? Behind your back, he brings five more gifts into the living room. 

Don't worry about whether gratitude will improve your life. Whether gratitude boosts your mental health by 5% or 10% is outside our control.

But what we can do is develop a lifestyle of sincere gratitude.

It doesn't require any special education. It just requires us to acknowledge God and the reality of God’s gifts with one another.

So if you want to be grateful, here’s how:

Worship God, thank him for each good gift he's provided, and build these habits into the culture of your communities. 

I’m grateful you read this post. Thank you.

If you’d like to discuss it with brothers and sisters in Christ, you can do so in our online community.

Photo by Giu Vicente on Unsplash