This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Get Out of Your Head" by Jennie Allen. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Why is it important to be grateful? What are some examples of gratitude in the bible?
Remaining grateful no matter what life throws at you is one of the hardest—and most rewarding—things you can do. Use our recommended readings about gratitude in the bible to inspire a feeling of thankfulness despite life’s difficulties.
Keep reading for some powerful examples of gratitude in the bible.
Gratitude in the Bible: Key Examples
The way to defeat victimhood and self-pity is to choose gratitude. Be grateful no matter what happens, no matter what life brings. Here are some key examples of gratitude in the bible:
Isaiah 41:10
Meditate on Isaiah 41:10 that teaches and reinforces the truth that God holds you and keeps you secure in all circumstances. The security of God is something Christians can remain grateful for throughout their lives.
2 Corinthians 4
Fix your mental gaze on God’s infinite goodness and long-range purposes. Follow Paul’s instruction in 2 Corinthians 4 to look not at the temporary things you can see with your physical eyes but the eternal things that you can only see with your eyes of faith. This example of gratitude in the bible shows you how to look beyond your immediate situation.
Romans 5
Look for the unexpected gifts that difficult circumstances may bring. You may find that you and your loved ones grow the most in your faith because of hard times. Bank on Paul’s description of some of these benefits in Romans 5: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
The Teachings of Jesus
Learn and receive the neurological benefits of gratitude for improving your life. Science has identified several of these and found that—to put it in Christian terms—gratitude contributes to the transformation of your mind and life in a Christlike direction:
- Gratitude facilitates human relationships.
- Gratitude improves physiological and psychological health.
- Gratitude reduces aggression and increases empathy.
- Gratitude improves sleep patterns.
- Gratitude enables appreciation of other people’s achievements.
- Gratitude increases mental strength for overcoming trauma and enduring hard times.
Use the above examples of gratitude in the bible to identify victim thoughts and replace them with thoughts that thank and honor God and enable you to recognize his goodness coming to you in all circumstances, even the hard ones. Keep reading to find out how to apply the lessons about gratitude in the bible:
Practice Gratitude
Here’s a visual showing the negative spiral of victimhood and how to reverse it by choosing gratitude. This shows how the above examples of gratitude in the bible were right about the positive effects of remaining thankful:
The most difficult time to practice gratitude is when you’re faced with challenging and painful circumstances. Ironically, this is also the time when practicing gratitude is most necessary. This exercise will help you to get started:
- Describe a challenging and/or painful circumstance in your life, one that you could easily use as an excuse to identify as a victim. It can be a past circumstance or a present one.
- What’s the “victim thought” (“It isn’t fair”; “Life wasn’t supposed to be like this”; “I never get any good breaks”) that this circumstance has created or tried to create in your mind?
- Compare this negative thought against God’s truth: What is the thought? Is it true? What does God say about it? Will you believe him? Write your responses below.
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Here's what you'll find in our full Get Out of Your Head summary :
- Satan’s master plan for poisoning your mind with toxic thoughts
- How to replace ungodly lies with scriptural truths
- How to “put on the mind of Christ” and fulfill God’s plan for you
