I find that my inner "scrooge" starts flaring up right about this time of year. The coming holiday season tends to do this to me because excessive consumption, mad busyness, and increased narcissism wants to have their way with me. I have found that one of the best ways to give a smack down on my inner scrooge is to practice the discipline of gratitude. When my gratitude factor increases my thirst for consumption, busyness, and narcissism decreases.

If your LIFEgroup is in a spot where you see the same thing happening then I encourage you to practice the discipline of gratitude together. I think the questions and thoughts below will get you started.

Here are some thoughts to get your group thinking about gratitude

"Gratitude … goes beyond the 'mine' and 'thine' and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”–Henri J. M. Nouwen

“Gratitude gives birth to joy, and joy gives rise to generosity. And gratitude is a decision. But it's more than a single decision. It's a discipline, in the sense that training for an athletic event is a discipline. It is a single-minded focus that governs many other decisions. You don't become a grateful person by accident. It's the result of hundreds of seemingly inconsequential decisions to choose thankfulness over griping, complaining and bitterness. But the fruit of those decisions is really sweet: a rich source of joy within and a spirit of generosity that blesses others.”__________________________________________

Question: Name one thing in your life you are truly and deeply grateful for... why?

Food for DiscussionHow is it, I wondered, that a guy could get mobbed, robbed, beat up and unfairly sent to jail — and be thankful for it all? My friends and I were studying the book of Acts, and we were amazed at the apostle Paul’s personal resiliency and joy amidst challenge and persecution. We wanted to know, “What’s his secret?”

The book of Acts in the Bible is the historical account of the growth of the early church. After Paul’s conversion, he stopped persecuting Christians and started preaching the good news about Jesus. But it cost him. He survived beatings, shipwrecks, and constant danger. How did he maintain a spirit of hopefulness and a deep faith in the love and goodness of God through it all? The secret, I believe, shows up again and again in Paul’s letters. He wrote, “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 ). Could the discipline of gratefulness be the key that unlocks an abundant life for the Christian, even in times of deep sorrow, and physical and emotional suffering?

Not many would immediately think of Paul as a gifted psychologist, but I believe he understood well the human psyche and what it needs to flourish. Our emotions are linked to the ways we think — and thinking well is both a grace from God and a discipline that takes focused attention. That is why Paul urged followers of Christ to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12: 2b). He also urged them to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8 ).

Gratitude doesn’t always come easily, though. It takes practice; we have to train our minds to be thankful. As M. Craig Barnes observes in his book, When God Interrupts, only one of the ten lepers whom Jesus heals, a Samaritan — an outcast — returns to thank God (Luke 17:11-19 ). But, when we begin to notice the goodness of God and give thanks in the mundane, difficult, and yes, joyful seasons of life, we develop a greater understanding of how perfectly we are being loved by our heavenly Father. And this knowledge of being loved perfectly by Jesus drives out fear and anxiety (1 John 4: 18b) and ushers in a spirit of peace and joy.

Question: What would it look like for us as followers of Jesus to practice the discipline of Gratitude in the next few weeks?

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Potential Practice for your group to do together: Set an alarm (clock, phone, computer) to go off once every hour to call you to remember what you are grateful for in life.