Gratitude

What if there was one quality that would change almost everything about your life for the good – would you try to get it? What if there was one thought process that lifted how you lived life to a new height – What would you pay for it? What would you do to get it?

What if there was one attitude that changed or improved you emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually would you seek to have that attitude created and increased in your life?

Does it seem too good to be true? Could there really be a quality, a thought or an attitude that could change a person’s whole life? That sounds too good to be true – doesn’t it? Maybe . . . After all doesn’t common sense say – If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is!

There actually is a quality that can have an almost immeasurable change on life. That quality is gratitude. Gratitude may not change the circumstances that are being played out in a person’s life but gratitude will change everything that surrounds those circumstances.

In the century before Jesus entered human history there was significant debate among the philosophers and thinkers of the day about vices (sin and evil) and virtues (goodness and rightness). One of the most brilliant thinkers and writers of that day was Marcus Tullius Cicero - often referred to as simply ‘Cicero.’ Cicero was a Roman Lawyer, Writer, Scholar, Orator and Statesman. One of the observations and quotes, regarding vices and virtues, that he is well known for is: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

The human body cannot function correctly without the correct amount and make-up of spinal fluid. Spinal fluid is what keeps the brain suspended, protects the brain and spinal components from injury in normal life, and it helps to maintain chemical stability in the body. Gratitude is in a sense the spinal fluid running through the spiritual cord of people. If the gratitude is there then people can be healthy spiritually, emotionally, mentally and psychically.

The great GK Chesterton wrote about having gratitude is every area of life: You say grace before meals. All right! But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

How’s your gratitude? Do you need an infusion of gratitude? Ask God to ‘grow gratitude’ in your heart – it will change almost everything in your life!