…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue… (2 Peter 1:5, KJV)
“Do you know what our word is for this month?” my wife Lorraine asked.
I gave her a sly look, “Gratitude.”
She smiled. I knew I’d gotten it right.
Since the turn of the century, Lorraine and I have chosen a virtue to concentrate upon during the month. Twelve different words per year. This idea sprang from reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. It was a habit he attempted to develop to become a more virtuous person.
The King James Version of our verse today reads, “Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue.” The NIV translates it a bit different. It reads, “Make every effort to add to your faith…”
The disciple of Jesus must exercise discipline. Effort.
He knows that without Jesus Christ at work within him, he “can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Yet, like the apostle Paul he can say that “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV).
Jesus Christ lives in all those who confess that he is Lord and God raised him from the dead (see Romans 10:9). We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit who, by grace, dwells within us. We have the power to become more like Jesus and allow his virtues to flow through us.
But still, as Peter wrote, “we must make every effort.” In the community of faith, we must “train ourselves to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7, NIV). We must “keep in step with the Spirit,” if we are to make a virtue habit (Galatians 5:25).
Lorraine and I have found this process doesn’t come easily. But “giving thanks in everything” has great benefits (1 Thessalonians 5:1).
I didn’t feel like giving thanks for a shot that could cost me the tournament.“Making gratitude a daily practice is like taking a vitamin,” says Dr. David DeSteno, author of Emotional Success. “Feelings of gratitude trigger the parasympathetic or calming branch of the nervous system…” The writer of this article from Prevention magazine is Jennifer Lindley. She writes, “Dr. DeSteno means that gratitude is like an actual vitamin making your body better. And the deep long-lasting power of gratitude is blissfully easy to harness.”
I recall playing in a golf tournament in Butte, Montana. I led the tournament going into sixteen the final day. Then I snapped-hooked my drive into the brush. When I walked off the tee, boom, these words struck me, “In everything give thanks.” I shook my head. I didn’t feel like giving thanks for a shot that could cost me the tournament. But, by God’s grace I did. My attitude changed almost instantly. I found my ball, hit it out left-handed, and went on to win.
Nothing like a happy ending.
Like Dr. DeSteno says, “Gratitude has a deep-lasting power.” My winning experience in Butte happened five decades ago and its imprint has never disappeared.
Lindley also cites a study from the Journal of Health and Psychology, which found that “subjects that kept gratitude journals for just two weeks slept better and had better blood pressure readings.”
I have a small journal. For the remaining 10 days of November, I’m going to write down three to five things for which I’m grateful before I get into any work each day. If it goes well, I plan to keep doing this in December. Will you join me?
—
Jim Hiskey
November 21, 2018
Copyright 2018 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.