PART 4
In this four-part series on the power of gratefulness we’ve illustrated how lack of true gratefulness can be connected to physical symptoms and even sabotage our weight loss efforts!
In this final article and video we give you four tools to build gratefulness and experience the results in your physical health and weight loss. From both science and Scripture we can see evidence for gratitude building health!
Let’s take a closer look at some key Scriptures on the topic:
Psalm 100:4 “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”
Romans 1:20-22 “nor were thankful, their foolish hearts were darkened”
Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Colossians 2:7, 3:15, 4:2 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful.”
I Thessalonians 5:18 “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Gratefulness Truths from these verses:
- Worship is based on gratefulness
- Deception, depression, darkness (lack of revelation) starts with lack of gratitude
- Requesting a need to be met should include grateful acknowledgment of another need already met
- God’s supernatural peace can rule when we are thankful
- God’s will (a key purpose for my life) is that I am a grateful person IN all things.
Gratefulness is faith expressed in worship and action.
Gratefulness changes:
- How we relate to others…
- How we relate to God…
- How we relate to ourselves…
Gratefulness focuses on:
- God’s faithfulness
- What I DO have vs. what I don’t
- How I can help others
- God’s promises
- God’s purposes
- God’s person
How do we build a life of gratitude?
STEP 1 – Recognize the stressors in our lives that we need to APPRECIATE
If a stressor can’t be AVOIDED
If a stressor has been ALTERED as much as possible
If we have ADJUSTED as much as possible to a stressor
If a stressor has been ACCEPTED
Than… the power comes when we APPRECIATE that stressor.
Seeing stressors as tools God uses in our lives to strengthen us, to heal us, to use us, to change us helps build gratefulness.
We will have plenty of stress we can’t avoid. So any stress that we can avoid, that’s in our control, that we can get out of our life then by all means release it!!
But when we have stressors that can’t be avoided, altered and we’ve adjusted as much as possible… There is a level of acceptance that gratitude can bring and the powerhouse magic is appreciation of the stressor.
Here are the Four Tools for Gratefulness:
#1: CTEARB FLYWHEEL:
A circumstance happens, you can put a stressor in that first C spot. It could be anything, it could be a relationship that’s an ongoing stressor in your life, it could be a goal that you have, something that’s factual, that actually either happened or you know is happening to you, or is a clear fact stressor. It’s not just an opinion fact.
Based on that stressor or circumstance, you have all kinds of thoughts around it. Your brain wants to tell you all the negative thoughts.
Those thoughts trigger certain emotions that come with it that are tied directly to the mental process.
And those emotions are what really initiate the actions we take or how we behave or respond – what we do or don’t do.
And those actions create the result. Either positive or negative.
Results create beliefs, so the next time that same stressor happens…we repeat the same flywheel over and over again.
But we stop the negative mindset flywheel cycle at the THOUGHT level. When you insert grateful thoughts into the flywheel our emotions shift, our actions change, the results get altered and it builds a totally different belief!
When we choose grateful thoughts related to the stressor/circumstance…
- I’m thankful for the opportunity instead of “I wish I had…”
- I haven’t learned yet, but I will… instead of “I definitely can’t do this…”
It’s a very powerful way to renew your mind, but the thoughts themselves are based in gratefulness, and you’re thinking thankful thoughts of all kinds in creative ways. Whatever the natural negative ungrateful thought is towards a stressor when it comes up… shift to a positive grateful thought and watch how it changes your emotions, actions, results and beliefs!!
#2 PRAISE TARGETING:
Praise targeting is focused on God’s promises, His purposes, and who He is – His person.
Your mental and emotional focus immediately is off the stressor and on Him as soon as you’re triggered. Every time.
Choose praises not related to the stressor at all.
So when that stressor comes along, Satan knows, his kingdom knows, you’re going to be praising and you’re going to be praying. So as soon as you get stressed, the praise target happens, and as soon as you get in the habit of doing that, your stress gets turned to praise, you may slowly notice that the stressor loses its power.
#3 BENEFITS LIST
If you’re going through a very chronic, stressful time, or are coming out of a crisis period in your life, this is a very powerful tool to make a list of the benefits of that specific stress situation.
What are the benefits of a crisis that you received that you would not have received if it wasn’t for that stressor?
You will be surprised at how many benefits you list.
Keep asking yourself, what else? What else? What else have I gained from going through this? What has my family gained?
Anytime that stressor gets triggered again or something similar happens and you want to say, oh, I do not want to go back there. You will never go back there when you keep remembering the benefits of that stressor. Go back to that list of benefits.
#4 MINISTRY ACTION
Taking action. Ministry kindness towards others, even when you’re in the middle of a crisis or you’re going through a very stressful time in your life DOING something for others can be healing, a way to release spiritual stressors.
When ministry action is rooted in gratefulness – that’s the motive for doing – the process is healing.
Building a grateful life starts at your thoughts, number one.
Flows into prayer and praise, number two.
We start to recognize/list the benefits, number three.
We give back and pour into other people’s lives, number four.
That’s building a life not a list.
That’s getting to the root of healing.
That’s resetting metabolism, rebuilding gut health, rebalancing hormones.
That’s reclaiming health and releasing weight!
Need help in this process! Don’t do it alone…See if our Coaching Program is right for you and by applying on our website, and a coach will reach out to you! It’s not about the program. It’s about the person.