Cultivating Thankfulness

Colossians 3:12-17 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”

It is easy to treat thankfulness like nice weather. When it shows up, we enjoy it. When it doesn’t, we wait for it to roll back in. But Paul never tells the Colossians to feel grateful. He tells them to be thankful.

THE UMPIRE IN THE ROOM

The word Paul uses for “rule” is brabeuō. It appears only here in the New Testament, and it comes from the athletic games. The brabeus was the umpire, the one who made the call and settled disputes on the field. Paul using this picture creates a vivid picture. Inside every heart there’s a contest going on. Fear wants to make the call. Resentment wants to make the call. Comparison, exhaustion and the running list of everything that went wrong today all want the whistle. But, thankfully, Paul says there’s only one rightful umpire and it is the peace of Christ.

And then, right on its heels: be thankful. Pace and thankfulness are side by side, and this isn’t on accident. They aren’t two separate ideas. In the space of three verses, Paul calls the church to thankfulness three times. That repetition isn’t decoration. It’s instruction.And, notice something—the instructions around thankfulness are not a reaction to circumstance or emotion. Instead, thankfulness is something you cultivate as a practice in your life at all times.

WHY THANKS AND PEACE TRAVEL TOGETHER

Giving thanks is how we hand the whistle back. When I name what God has done, I remind my heart who is actually officiating. Complaint grabs the whistle and calls every play against us. Gratitude returns it to the One who sees the whole field.

Paul ties the two together again in Philippians 4:6–7. Prayer offered “with thanksgiving” opens the door to a peace that stands guard over the heart and mind.

A POSTURE YOU PRACTICE

The Jewish world Paul grew up in understood this. The faithful began the day with blessings, Baruch atah Adonai, “Blessed are You, LORD,” spoken over waking, washing, bread and the ordinary gifts of the day. Rabbinic tradition even encouraged a hundred blessings a day (Menachot 43b). That isn’t sentiment. It’s training.

The Hebrew word todah, thanksgiving, also named an offering (Leviticus 7:12). In Israel, gratitude was something you carried to God. It had weight. It cost something. It was a posture before it was ever a feeling. In other words, God’s people have always known thankfulness as an important part of their lives: Thankfulness is a spiritual discipline. It is something you cultivate intentionally, practicing it apart from any emotional response that circumstances might naturally draw out of you. 

That’s good news for the weary heart at kitchen table or the one walking through a dry season. You don’t have to wait until you feel it. You can practice it now and let the feeling catch up.

We’re heading into the season when everyone talks about gratitude—which is wonderful! However, if you are waiting for thankfulness to be the automatic response of your heart in the coming days, you may be disappointed. Yes, there is the potential for special moments. Family. Friends. Generosity expressed in shared meals and gifts. The opportunity to reflect on God’s faithfulness to you, and to look forward to the coming new year with hope. 

But, these days have the potential for other things too: Worry. Tension. Grief. Short days with too much to do. The holiday season doesn’t magically fix the issues you have been dealing with. Instead, it can even aggravate them. If gratitude depends on feeling it, we may be waiting a long time.

Since it doesn’t depend on a feeling, the good news is that we can start to cultivate it today, right now, right in the middle of the mess. And, the even better news is that doing so just may be the key that you needed all along. The one that starts with changing your emotions and ends with changing your life!

There are many simple ways that you can cultivate thankfulness in your heart. There are three that I invite you to put into practice this week: 

1. Start Your Day with Thanksgiving. Each morning, before you do anything else, think of three specific things you are thankful for. Then, say thank you for them! This doesn’t have to be a long or eloquent prayer. Simply say “Thank You Lord for the way my daughter greets me when she sees me in the morning.” (And so on.)
2. Hand back the whistle. When worry or irritation tries to rule your heart, pause and pray. Thank the Lord that it is the peace of Christ that makes the final call in your heart. 
3. Make thanks a table habit. At dinner, invite everyone to share one thing they’re thankful for from today. Not only will you enjoy hearing what each person has to say, but you will be cultivating the habit of thankfulness in your home.

As this month passes, I encourage you: keep exploring what it looks like to let Christ’s peace rule your hearts, and to practice thankfulness on ordinary days.

Take a moment now and ask yourself: What has been making the call in my heart lately? Then make sure to hand the whistle back to the Lord, if need be. 

If you haven’t yet, I invite you to look through my previous blog post and use the Gratitude Journal pages that are provided, too. Either way, I hope this month is a special one for you and your family. May you experience pure joy as the peace of Christ rules in your hearts and the fruit of thankfulness fills your home.