Isn’t the gratitude season is over? Don’t we embrace the concept of gratitude in the last quarter of every year during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays? It’s JANUARY for goodness sake and shouldn’t we be moving onto the all-dreaded resolutions? 2023 just began and we should be creating an elaborate mastermind schedule that includes resolutions to fix our personality quirks, lose weight, exercise more, focus on mental toughness or _______________ (you fill-in the blank). Or does the resolution mindset just end up depressing us and basically setting us up for failure?
Could our spiritual approach for the entire 2023 year be on gratitude as an alternative to resolutions? Our lead pastor at North Scottsdale UMC, the Rev. Christopher Wurpts, shared in his sermon series that “Gratitude gives us a perspective on the past and our future. This view gives us more hope and optimism for our future.” I personally would fully welcome hope and optimism in this post-COVID era.
Rev. Wurpts suggested that we could consider adopting a gratitude mindset. Focusing on the gifts we have received from God. That is, how you see God working, providing and showing up in your life. If we begin this New Year focusing on His gifts of love, kindness, faithfulness and forgiveness in us, then it would make it easier to offer that gratitude to others as well.
One of our members once shared that one of his daily prayers was to offer-up 10BEFORE10. Basically he thanks God for ten things that he is grateful for before 10:00. We asked him if that was 10:00am or 10:00pm and his reply was “God would be happy with either!” Not only did that work in his life but current research also supports living with an “attitude of gratitude” for a healthy mindset.
Why not shake up your new year and ditch the resolutions and focus on gratitude. I invite you to offer-up a 10BEFORE10 daily gratitude prayer for a healthier 2023.
Could our spiritual approach for the entire 2023 year be on gratitude as an alternative to resolutions? Our lead pastor at North Scottsdale UMC, the Rev. Christopher Wurpts, shared in his sermon series that “Gratitude gives us a perspective on the past and our future. This view gives us more hope and optimism for our future.” I personally would fully welcome hope and optimism in this post-COVID era.
Rev. Wurpts suggested that we could consider adopting a gratitude mindset. Focusing on the gifts we have received from God. That is, how you see God working, providing and showing up in your life. If we begin this New Year focusing on His gifts of love, kindness, faithfulness and forgiveness in us, then it would make it easier to offer that gratitude to others as well.
One of our members once shared that one of his daily prayers was to offer-up 10BEFORE10. Basically he thanks God for ten things that he is grateful for before 10:00. We asked him if that was 10:00am or 10:00pm and his reply was “God would be happy with either!” Not only did that work in his life but current research also supports living with an “attitude of gratitude” for a healthy mindset.
Why not shake up your new year and ditch the resolutions and focus on gratitude. I invite you to offer-up a 10BEFORE10 daily gratitude prayer for a healthier 2023.
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