The Gratitude Muscle! A 5 Day ChallengeSample

Do you drink caffeine every day? I used to be addicted to energy drinks and iced coffee, relying on a caffeine rush to get through my day.

I approached caffeine similarly to how many of us approach gratitude. We give thanks when we feel like it or when some outside force brings on a sense of appreciation (like a certain holiday in America that involves turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie).

But, like an energy drink wears off, this short-term approach to gratitude rarely transforms us in a lasting way. We give thanks when we feel like it; when we don't, we don't.

However, we know from every other area of our lives that the things we do occasionally don't change our lives in a lasting way. Consistency creates lasting change.

Instead of thinking of gratitude like a Red Bull or a large coffee, what if you thought of gratitude like a muscle? We don't expect muscles to be large or defined outside of consistent and challenging exertion. Our muscles are developed over the long term through consistent, challenging workouts when we feel like working out and don't want to but do so anyway.

Have you ever considered that you have a gratitude muscle? Tim Sanders is an author who introduced me to the gratitude muscle, sharing how his grandmother challenged him to grow in this area of his life. She said that gratitude is your strength and ability to find something or someone to be grateful for, no matter the circumstances. Giving thanks to God does not have to be circumstantial or feeling-driven.

That's why the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 5 that suffering and adversity can be transformational in how they shape us. Paul states that we "glory" in our sufferings. The Greek word for glory means "to rejoice." You may think, "How can I make a gratitude list when facing these challenges? " You may also wonder, "Who on earth rejoices when they suffer?!"

In addition to Paul's admission that he does, consider this observation. After pastoring people in churches for nearly 20 years, I've found that the times people felt closest to God and grew the most in their faith were not the easy seasons, but the seasons of adversity and pain. When I talk with those people, they do not wish for those adversities and crisis moments to return. But, they praise and thank God for what He did through them, and as James wrote in his epistle, they can count those things as joy because they can see the final product looking back.

I encourage you to identify your three items for your list today, just like you did yesterday. Today's list might seem like an easy walk or bench pressing a couple hundred pounds.

Whatever emotions you're processing presently, I'm with you in the gratitude gym, spotting you and encouraging you as you exercise your gratitude muscle. Please reach out and drop me a note if you need some encouragement.

I'll see you tomorrow when I'll share the story of someone who took this challenge right before his world fell apart.