Counting your blessings can be a great way to understand gratitude. Thinking about the people who bless you can bring great joy. Remembering the positive experiences you’ve been through can usher in a new perspective. Understanding God’s grace in your life can fill you with tremendous peace.

Being thankful for the blessings in life is an indication of maturity.

Being a blessing to others is a sign of a Christ-like heart.

Usually when there is a discussion about gratitude, we begin to think about the blessings we’ve received, or the people who’ve blessed us. This is a natural understanding of gratitude and it’s a wonderful thing. But if we can learn to be grateful for the opportunities to bless others, we gain a super-natural understanding of gratitude. Jesus gave us many examples of this in the Gospels.

Think about a time when you received a birthday or Christmas present that was exactly what you wanted. I’m sure it was a great memory and a great feeling that came with it. Now think about a time when you were able to give another person a birthday or Christmas present that was exactly what they desired. I bet that memory was just as, if not more overwhelming. In many ways giving produces more gratitude than receiving.

There are people who need us to be a blessing. They need a word of encouragement, an act of grace, or simply an attentive ear. If we are to live a life of gratitude, our hearts will be moved to strategic acts of kindness. We will think about other people and their needs as much or more than ourselves and our own needs. Gratitude is cyclical, it’s like breathing. We receive, we give, we learn to be thankful, we help others to be thankful.

Count your blessings and you will be grateful.

Be a blessing and you will spread gratitude.