What are some of the things in your life that at one time you were grateful for but now you complain about? A job, a car, property, a spouse, maybe a family member? 

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 NIV

Nowadays everyone has something to complain about. Husbands complain about their wives and wives complain about their husbands. Parents complain about their children and children about their parents. Just pick up a newspaper or turn on the news and you will find someone complaining about something. It is difficult to express gratitude when you are complaining about the very thing or person you say that you appreciate. The problem is that study’s shown that complaining leads to ungratefulness which in turn leads to stress, anxiety, fear, anger and arguments. So, why do we complain so much?

I recently read a study conducted by Dr. Berné Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston. After interviewing more than 11,000-people over a 12-year period, Dr. Brown said that the most important thing she discovered was the relationship between gratefulness and joy.  She assumed that her studies would conclude that joy leads to gratefulness. But to her surprise the results were totally opposite. What she discovered was that gratefulness lead to joy. She said that after thousands of interviews, she did not find a single person who described themself as joyful who did not actively practice gratefulness. 

Dr. Brown would later state that the study’s conclusion radically changed hers and her family’s lives. They began to intentionally practice gratefulness. Not just as a feeling or an emotion, but rather in words and actions. Now, every night, Dr. Brown and her family sit at the table and before they eat their meal, they thank God and then each one of the family members takes a moment to verbally express what they are thankful for that day. She has been doing this for years now and ended her study by stating that gratefulness has invited joy into her home.