The Gratitude Dare

The movie Fireproof back in 2005 birthed the Love Dare book that sold over five million copies. This book challenged husbands and wives to do loving things for one another for forty days. The idea behind this is that love is a verb before it’s a noun. In other words, if we do the right thing (verb), it will ultimately produce the right feeling (noun). The same could be said for gratitude.

The reigning sentiment in the human heart apart from Christ is to see the cup half-empty instead of half-full. Christians too have wrestled with negativity and its sidekick criticalness for centuries. Our fallen sense of justice often questions God’s ways and most definitely the actions of people. We see this perspective manifested in such scripture as:

• Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? –Jeremiah 12:1
• For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. –Psalms 73:3
• Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? –Job 21:7

No, you are not alone! Godly men like Jeremiah and Job had the similar thoughts of the occurrences in life. Of course, God confronted Job personally on this matter, and the result was Job put his hand over his mouth, committing never to question God again. Jeremiah? God basically called him a wimp a few verses later. We need to tread carefully.

While there are sometimes no easy answers to the complexities we face, one thing is for sure, gratitude helps. Cultivating a sense of gratefulness will put a biblical prescription to our lens of life, knowing that God is great and is always good. While this subject is especially fitting during the Thanksgiving season, its power can be experienced all year round.

I dare you to begin an intentional course of action regarding gratitude. What are some beginning ideas to carry out a Gratitude Dare?

1. End every day with a list of at least three things that you are grateful for. They can be specific events, various actions, kindnesses shown to you, answers to prayer, or just acknowledgement of God’s continual goodness and faithfulness.
2. If you have a family devotional time, ask each family member to share one positive thing about the day.
3. Psalms 78 challenges us to share with our children and grandchildren moments of God’s intervention throughout our lives.
4. Use the ACTS approach to prayer. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplications)
5. Thank at least one person each day for something they have done. (E.g. whoever does the laundry, a child mowing the yard, a parent teaching their child at home, your pastor’s faithfulness in ministry, etc.)
6. Encourage your children to go past a simple thank-you by specifying what their gratitude is for. (E.g. just don’t simply tell Mom, “Thanks for the meal” but add something extra like, “I know love is your secret ingredient,” or, “the mashed potatoes really hit the spot.”)
7. Be especially sensitive to thank service people with whom you interact. This could be a cleaning person at a hotel, your mail carrier, bathroom personnel at an airport, or a checkout person at Walmart. Again, be specific in your thankfulness. “Thank you for your dedication. It is so nice to have a clean room to sleep in after a long day.”

Not only will this Gratitude Dare help you see the good things in life, it will also make people’s day since so few individuals receive any recognition at all.

Gratitude can literally change the entire atmosphere of your home and home is exactly where the Gratitude Dare needs to start. There is no better time to start this challenge than the holiday season. I dare you!