Colossians 3:15-17
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 dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

On a scale of 1-10, how grateful are you in your everyday life? What should that number be?

Last week I mentioned research from Gilliland, Dunn, and Seligman from a series of 2 independent research papers from the NIH.

Our upbringing, culture, and environment play a significant role in shaping our attitudes towards gratitude and appreciation. If we’re not taught or exposed to the value of gratitude from a young age, we may struggle to develop this trait. Research suggests that parents and caregivers who model and encourage gratitude in children can foster a lifelong appreciation for the nice things in life. Negative emotions like anger, resentment, and jealousy can also overshadow appreciation and gratitude. When we’re consumed by these feelings, it’s challenging to acknowledge and value the nice things in our lives.

We cannot overstate the impact of our family of origin and culture around us on our development. What you learn to value as a child we tend to value as adults. You might hear that and say, “No, that isn’t true. I’ve made it a life goal to do the opposite of what my parents did.” I understand that, but even if you are learning everything NOT to do, you are still currently valuing what you learned from your past. It begs a question about what you value now and what impact that is having on your life, and specifically today on your gratefulness.

People typically express gratitude when things are going according to plan. People typically struggle with gratitude when things are not. But you might be interested that the quality of your life right now is directly tied to how well you express gratitude. And, like it or not, how well you express gratitude is tied to how life is going at this exact moment.

For me, a statement like that makes me ask, “Well then how can my gratitude stay constant when life is anything but?”

I'm not going to be callous today and just demand, no matter how life is for you right now, that you be grateful. But I do want to share three things with you today about gratitude that will hopefully shift your thinking so that gratitude becomes a constant, no matter what's happening in your life.

1. Gratitude navigates you through what is happening.
How is that possible? Gratitude is about what has happened, not what is happening.

What God has done helps navigate you through what is happening in 2 main ways:
1. His past actions reveal his character.
History proves God faithful, even when we can’t see it in the moment. What better illustration than Joseph. In the moment, every setback was catastrophic. Yet, by the end of the story, we see the bigger picture. Joseph did, too in Genesis 50:20
As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to keep many people alive.

2. Knowing his character in his past actions gives you confidence in your current struggle.
Were you able to trust him before? You can trust him again. Was he able to rescue you before? He will rescue you again.

But here’s the catch: While his character never changes, his methods do. Be careful that we don’t put more faith in his method than in his character. Just because God parted the seas before doesn't necessarily mean he’ll do it that way again. He might ask you to part what he parted before.

Biblical proof? The Red Sea parting was to 1. get them across, but 2. to defeat an army.

Exodus 14:14
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.

Shortly after the Red Sea miracle, the Amalekites attack Israel at Rephidim. This time, God does not fight directly. Instead: Moses commands Joshua to organize and lead Israelite fighters into battle. Moses stands on a hill with the "staff of God," raising his hands to sustain Israel’s strength. When Moses’ hands are up, Israel prevails; when they drop, Amalek gains ground. Israel wins, but only through active combat led by Joshua and the men of Israel. God grants victory, but the people must fight. Take away: Sometimes God stops the issue himself. Other times, he invites you to remember his rescue and trust that through your efforts, he will rescue again. Same results, but the second time, he expected Israel to look back and trust him in spite of their current situation.

Here's what I hope you see in this: First, God is faithful. You can trust him. He'll get you through it. But second, just because God did it one way before doesn't mean he's gonna do it the same way every single time. The goal is to have faith in God, in him, not just what he does.

Gratitude for what he has done will help you trust him in what he is currently doing. You are not gonna understand everything. You are not gonna see how in the world it's all gonna work out. Not in the middle of it. It takes hindsight before we fully understand everything, and sometimes we even then don't understand everything. But the truth is, gratitude will help you realize that the same God that got you through before it will get you through now.

2. Gratitude keeps your eye on the ball.
When I played baseball in high school, we had a coach named Coach Brach. He was a trip. He was borderline crazy I think. He would sit in the dugout while the other team was batting and just randomly whistle at them like a bird, trying to distract them. He was trying to get their focus off of hitting and onto the annoying old coach in the dugout whistling. It worked more often than you'd think.

This is a lot like how the devil operates. He is constantly trying to get your eye off of the ball. Think back to the Garden:

Genesis 3:1
Has God really said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?”

Think about Solomon.

1 Kings 11:1-4
1 King Solomon loved many foreign women…2 from the nations which Yahweh had said to the Israelites, “You shall not marry them…They will certainly turn your heart after other gods.” But Solomon clung to them to love. 3 He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart. 4 It happened at the time of Solomon’s old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father had been.

Even Judas. Don't you think the devil was constantly whispering in his ear, "he can't be the Messiah. He's not doing anything the Messiah is supposed to do.”

Think about your own life for a moment. I bet there are numerous problems and issues and struggles going on in your world right now. Ask yourself for a moment:

How many of the struggles that I'm facing right now have the sole purpose to get my eyes off of Jesus?


Look at the remembrance and gratitude of Psalm 77:11-15
11 But I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. 12 They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. 13 O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? 14 You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. 15 By your strong arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

I don’t know if you noticed it, but that passage started with the word “but. Grammatically, a “but” at the start of a sentence is to give strong emphasis to the contrasting idea that follows. Asaph, the writer, remembers God’s mighty works and glorifies God as a result of them. This is gratitude. But this passage is designed to emphasize the contrast between this passage and the previous.

Psalm 77:1-10
1 I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! 2 When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. 3 I think of God, and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. 4 You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray! 5 I think of the good old days, long since ended, 6 when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. 7 Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? 8 Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? 9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? 10 And I said, “This is my fate; the Most High has turned his hand against me.”

Does Asaph sound hopeless to you? We’ve all felt like this, even prayed prayers like this. But what did Asaph do? He didn’t let the distractions of issues around him take his eyes off the ball. Rather, he remembered. He praised. He glorified God. He let gratitude stay his focus.

Gratitude isn’t just being thankful. It’s realignment of your focus. It is refusing to let the problem be bigger than the problem solver. And when you feel like the problem is bigger than the problem solver, being grateful helps you ignore the whistling in the dugout, and crush the ball.

3. Gratitude rewires you.
Now what do I mean by that? Research from Merzenich, Pascual-Leone, Davidson, Hebb:
The brain's neuroplasticity—its ability to reorganize neural pathways based on repeated thoughts, experiences, and behaviors—means that habitual negative thinking can indeed "rewire" the brain toward pessimism, stress, and reduced resilience, while focusing on positive thoughts strengthens pathways for optimism, emotional regulation, and well-being. Hebbian theory shows, "Neurons that fire together, wire together.”

Positive Thinking Builds Resilience:
Practices like gratitude or affirmations increase dopamine and serotonin release, enhancing neuroplasticity and creating "upward spirals" of positivity. This counters the brain's natural negativity bias.

Negative Thinking Entrenches Stress:
Chronic negativity elevates cortisol, which impairs hippocampal function (memory and learning) and shrinks prefrontal activity, leading to slower cognition and emotional ruts.

This is the actual science behind positive thinking. It is hard for me not to think of Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley. “I’m good enough. I’m smart enough. And dog-gone it, people like me.” But what does the Bible say?

Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Paul says your mind is literally remade through repeated focus on God’s truth.
Matches: Neuroplasticity via repeated mental practice.

Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
Hebrew: shaʿar - your thinking shapes your identity. Matches: Negative rumination to amygdala/hippocampal stress loops.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Paul gives a cognitive reframing list—exactly like modern cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)/gratitude practices. The result (v.9): "The God of peace will be with you.” Matches: Gratitude releases dopamine, prefrontal growth

Psalm 1:2–3
Blessed is the one whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on it day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water.
Hebrew: hagah = to mutter, ponder, repeat. Matches: Hebbian learning—repetition strengthens neural pathways

Deuteronomy 28:65–67
You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread... In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!:
Describes anxiety loops from fear-based thinking. Matches: Chronic cortisol to hippocampal shrinkage

2 Corinthians 10:5
We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Cognitive behavioral technique 2,000 years early. Matches: CBT rewiring negative loops

Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
This is not positive thinking for its own sake. It’s God-centered thinking that rewires the brain for peace, purpose, and resilience.

Bottom line:
Dwell on fear, bitterness, or lies and you become anxious, hard, and broken. Dwell on God’s truth, goodness, and promises and you are transformed into a resilient, fruitful person. Gratitude gets you focused on God’s goodness and faithfulness. And that focus on God’s goodness and faithfulness rewires your thinking. I know that is a lot of science for you, but i pray you see it is biblical truth, as well. Having a hard time being positive? Be grateful.

Gratitude navigates you through what is happening. Gratitude keeps your eye on the ball. Gratitude rewires you.

How grateful are you?

The difference between griping and grateful is mindset. I can gripe about my circumstance, or I can be grateful.

This week I went to a full mouth dental replacement center. I have several missing molars and due somewhat to sinus issues inherited genetically, my teeth hurt a lot. In the meeting they told me, “You have too many healthy teeth to be a candidate.” Well there Sally, I beg to differ. I wasn’t happy. Deflated. Demoralized. The lady said, “This is good news. You have a lot of options.” Honestly, I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to go to another place. I just wanted all my teeth pulled out and permanent implants put it. I didn’t want to worry about them anymore. No more hurting.

Monique and I were talking on the way home and I said, “I was certain you were going to throw the message from the past Sunday back at me.” “Are you going to look at the issue before you as a problem or an opportunity?” She said she’d made a note of that comment on Sunday.

I know this is not a life or death issue, my teeth, and I know some here are facing way worse things than that. But in that moment, I had the choice to gripe or be grateful. I could worsen the problem or embrace an opportunity. I just don’t want some dentures flying out of my mouth mid message one day.

In every season, in every situation, in every moment, God has been faithful. But I know for a fact that in every season, in every situation, in every moment, I haven’t been grateful.

That lack of gratitude did more than just make me gripe. It made me hopeless. It made me faithless. It made me bitter. And that, repeated, wires me for negativity. Keeps me hopeless.

Each week we’ve ended with “What can you be grateful for?” Let’s take it a step further today with a challenge.

Every morning when you wake up, let the first thing out of your mouth be 3 things for which you are grateful. Be specific. Tell God what you’re grateful for. And then watch how gratitude changes you.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?