There is one simple, positive action that can ultimately affect your health, your finances, your relationships, your career, and your destiny. What is it? Expressing gratitude. GRATITUDE CHANGES EVERYTHING!
Expressing gratitude is one of the greatest success habits of dream achievers. Proverbs 23:7 conveys the idea that, “As a man thinks in his heart, so does he become.” You could say, whatever you think about, you bring about.
On the negative side, when we constantly complain, we only attract more to complain about. We are solely focused on the negative; therefore, we attract more negativity. When we are grateful and we express our thankfulness with our words, we attract more to be grateful for. It really is that simple.
If you allow yourself to dwell on how bad things are, never having enough, always missing opportunities, never succeeding, being stressed out, always coming up short, then that is exactly what will come to you. What you think about, you continue to bring about. Your life follows your thoughts.
We have to stop giving our attention to all the negative things in our lives. Stop talking about them. Stop reliving them. Stop rehearsing them with friends. Stop reading about them. Focus only on what you want to receive more of.
Gratitude is powerful. Gratitude is motivating. Gratitude pushes out the negative thoughts that are trying to pervade your mind. Gratitude opens doors that have been closed in your life!
I’ve discovered that not only do we want to be acknowledged and appreciated, but God also enjoys being appreciated.
He responds differently to a person with a grateful heart.
We can see the paralyzing effects of complaining in the story of the Israelites in Deuteronomy. They were headed for the Promised Land, a land of abundance.
However, they took their eyes off of their dream and magnified their current circumstances. It is recorded that their 40-year journey should have taken only eleven days!
Think about it: Something that should have been accomplished in less than two weeks turned into a four-decade experience. Have you ever felt like that is the story of your life?
If you want to achieve your God-given dreams, stop complaining about where you are and how bad it appears! Stay thankful and focused on where you’re going and you’ll get there much sooner!
Look at Philippians 4:6-8: “Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God” (AMP).
Those two little words ‘with thanksgiving’ have more significance than many people understand. It is one thing to write your dreams (or petition) on paper, it’s another thing to begin thanking God for its fulfillment . . . before it happens.
This is called “the sacrifice of praise.” Why is it a sacrifice? Because you don’t feel like doing it and it doesn’t make sense! This discipline of expressing gratitude is important. Take some time to start expressing gratitude today, and see your thoughts and life move in a positive direction.
