Practicing Gratitude

Biblical gratitude is recognizing and expressing thanks for what Jesus is actively doing in us and through us - that by grace through faith, He’s given us His presence and His love and His life so that we might live out His Kingdom here on earth.

This is why Philippians 4:4-8 puts it like this, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!” The passage then goes onto to say that through ongoing gratitude we push back against worry and experience deeper peace in Jesus. So no matter our circumstances, we’re called to think about the goodness of God and His gifts towards us daily. And this passage tells us something pretty important about gratitude: that it’s just as much a mental practice as it is anything else. It’s about intentionally directing your attention to recognize God’s presence and activity in your life, even if on the surface there doesn’t seem to be anything to celebrate.

So to practice biblical gratitude, we want to encourage you with a few ways to cultivate this practice:

1 - List out daily what you’re thankful for

First set aside a time and a place each day and take a few minutes listing out what you’re thankful to Jesus for. So maybe you have a gratitude journal by your nightstand so that either when you wake up or before you go to bed, you can spend some time listing out those things. Or you can download the One-Second app on your phone, and make an ongoing video journal of the things you’re grateful for.

By having a record of these things, when times get difficult, you can look back on your list and see all the ways God has provided for you and blessed you.

And learning to fight for joy means fighting to be thankful in the moments that are less than ideal too, knowing that no matter the circumstances, God loves you and sees you and is using even the hardest moments in your life so that you can look more like Jesus. So as you list out the positive things you’re thankful for, thank God for the hard moments too, knowing that our God is good and faithful and at work in your life no matter what.

2. Write down Gratitude Verses

So on a post-it note or Index card, write down Philippians 4:4-8 or 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 or Lamentations 3:22-24 or Romans 8:28 and place it in a prominent place in your house or your office or car. That way when you see it, it becomes your cue in that moment to meditate on those passages and give thanks to God throughout your day.

3. Share with Others

And as followers of Jesus, we don’t follow Him on our own, but we share our joy with others. So as you work through these practices, talk about what you’re thankful for ongoingly with the people in your life. Or when you share a meal with someone, pray and share something you’re thankful for even if it’s just the food in front of you. Because when we share our joy - we actually increase our joy. 

And when we practice gratitude more and more, the Scriptures tell us we fight anxiety, we push back apathy, we multiply our joy, and in the process, the Spirit uses our gratitude to look more like Jesus.

For more on the practices, go to FollowingJesusTogether.com

Reading Scripture

The Bible is a library written by God through men that tells a unified story that leads to Jesus. And as God’s people, we want to be guided by His Word and empowered by His Spirit to more fully experience the life and love of Jesus.

Here are three steps to help you more fully engage with the Scriptures. You can go deeper into each of these categories and questions.

Before you study, take a moment to stop, take a deep breath, and ask God to speak to you through His Word. This little moment of preparation reminds us that reading the Bible is a sacred act in which we invite God to speak to us.

1. Read

As you read through the passage, make a note of anything that pops out to you or raises a question in you. Try not to get fixated on one phrase or verse, just make a note of it. After reading through the passage once, read through the passage once or twice more, this time thinking about what stands out in this passage and what impression it leaves on you. Reading out loud can be helpful too, as it can help us understand what we’re reading and help us process each verse of the passage.

2. Reflect

Now that you’ve read the passage multiple times, take time to reflect on what you’ve just read, using a journal or a note-taking app that you can read again in the future. As you reflect on the passage, try thinking through these two questions:

• What does this passage reveal to us about God? 

• What does this passage reveal to us about people?

3. Respond

After reflecting on the passage, it’s time to respond. Every part of Scripture is inspired by God Himself; a message so perfect and powerful demands a response from us. So, in light of the truth you’ve just read, consider these two questions: 

• What’s this passage calling me to do today?

• What’s this passage calling me to pray for today?

As you’re exploring the Scriptures here are two encouragements:

It’s okay to be a rookie

As you’re starting out, going through those questions may be challenging at first. But keep with it. Remember, one of the biggest components of abiding in God’s Word is just showing up and being consistent. If you get confused or get stuck, that’s okay; invite your brothers and sisters in Jesus for help because we’re in this together.

Be faithful

We don’t expect our lives to be radically changed every time we read our Bible. It is a gradual, slow process. But we do know that every time we open up our Bibles - we are becoming more faithful. The more we simply show up, work through the process, pray, and apply the Scriptures into our lives, the more we cultivate the space in our lives for the Spirit to transform us and look more like Jesus.

Related Resource

How to Study the Bible: Old Testament Narratives

Helpful Resource for Anthology: The Bible Project

Hey, my name is David and I'm one of our teaching team residents. Being a part of teaching team has been an incredibly humbling experience for me, mainly because I came into this year of residency thinking I knew my way around the Bible fairly well. But over the past year, I’ve been shown again and again that I know much less about the Bible than I previously thought. 

The more I've learned about the Bible, the more I've realized just how much I don't know. It seems like the only way to get all of the necessary information to really understand scripture is to get a seminary degree and that's 1.) not something God’s leading me to pursue right now and 2.) factually inaccurate. There's actually great, free resources available for Christians to grow in understanding of the Bible.

One of the most helpful tools I've found is the work the guys are doing over at the Bible Project. They’re creating short five minute videos for individual books and sections of the Bible. These videos give simple, useful background information; a brief introduction to the author and setting; as well as explaining the big picture of the text; the style and the narrative arc. Armed with these videos, I’m much more equipped to understand the individual passages I’m studying.

Videos For You To Watch

From Bible Project, check out these videos for context on what we’ve seen so far in Anthology and as we move through the series, we’ll continue to point you to more videos to help us learn to love the stories of God.

First 11 Chapters of Genesis

Second Part of Genesis

Beginning of Exodus

End of Exodus

The Book of Numbers

Read Scripture: Deuteronomy