Being Thankful

One of the things I have been learning is that you cannot force thankfulness any more than you can force joy, or love, compassion, or contrition. Going through the motions doesn’t really do it. Real thankfulness, genuine gratitude just happens. You don’t decide to be thankful, you just express that you are. That doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to grow thankfulness, but it is more than a decision; it is the gut reaction to receiving grace. The way to grow more thankful, is to grow more aware of grace. The more you realize how much you need it and how liberal God is with it, the more thankful you will become.