July 20, 2012

Find Joy by Choosing Gratitude

This time, a shooting at a movie theater in Colorado...

It's too easy for the world to suck us into its undertow. It makes me feel tired and overwhelmed, and it is those times that I just want to each chocolate and watch old movies. But it's also those times when I start to drift from God. Instead I have to be constantly vigilant about rejecting ingratitude and choose gratitude instead. When I start focusing on what I don't have, what I can't do, or what others have done to me or those I love, I am tempted to fret, worry, complain, and resent. Then, truthfully, too often, I vent my feelings to others--not very attractive or helpful.

When I feel myself going under or attacked by the evil of this world, I have discovered that gratitude helps me be open to God's grace. Gratitude keeps me stay afloat and not get weighed down by doubt, negativity, discouragement, or anxiety.

Choosing gratitude is a way to choose joy. Not happiness, which is transient and dependent on circumstance, but joy, which is fruit, not just of the Spirit, but for our spirit. Choosing gratitude is like taking a long sip of sweet tea.

Today, I will set my heart to relish God's abundant love in our midst and to disciple my tongue to speak words of kindness and goodness.

Because God chooses me, I will choose gratitude.

Grace, Kathy

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