Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy

This is a potentially life-changing book talking about the fact that we can choose to be grateful even when we may not feel like it. Nancy DeMoss is Scriptural and practical. The first two-thirds of the book are well written, full of wisdom. The last of the book lets you put what you've learned into practice. By choosing gratitude for 30 days using this guide, you will start to develop a habit. I highly recommend this book.

Perhaps your mother trained you to show gratitude by sitting you down at the table with a stack of cards, envelopes, and a pencil as soon as the last birthday party guest walked out the door. "Write your thank you notes," she said. Mom understood something that it seems we've forgotten: it is not enough to feel grateful. Gratitude comes to fruition when it is expressed. Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Christian author, speaker, mentor, and host of Revive Our Hearts, would say that writing your thank-you notes is a good place to start, but an attitude of gratitude is the goal and encompasses more than saying, "Thank you" for our gifts. In Choosing Gratitude, DeMoss elevates gratitude to the status of spiritual discipline. She is convinced that Christians ought to be most the expressive people when it comes to gratitude. Or, as she calls it, "going gratitudinal." Following a succinct explanation of God's gospel, she writes, "Undeniable guilt, plus undeserved grace, should equal unbridled gratitude." But this unbridled gratitude, quite distinct from generic gratitude, is Godward and must be cultivated and practiced. "Over time, choosing gratitude means choosing joy. But that choice doesn't come without effort and intentionality. It's a choice that requires constantly renewing my mind with the truth of God's Word, setting my heart to savor God and His gifts, and disciplining my tongue to speak words that reflect His goodness and grace -- until a grateful spirit becomes my reflexive response to all of life." And it is in explaining "all of life" that Choosing Gratitude becomes most challenging. Are you more prone to whine or to worship? Are you grateful for the most difficult and painful circumstances in your life? Do you allow pain to drive you closer to the Father or does it make you want to withdraw from His grace and fellowship? I enjoy DeMoss' encouragement to express gratitude for gifts and good times. Citing various scriptures and anecdotes, she writes how gratitude begets more gratitude, blessings and giving. But her compassion really comes through as she writes to the woman in pain, to the woman whose expression of gratitude will be sacrificial. DeMoss takes us to God's word to provide the language we need to express gratitude, whether it's gratitude for pleasure or pain. DeMoss does not want this to be another good book that we forget about as soon as we're done reading it. Therefore, she provides a 30-Day Devotional Guide to help us begin practicing gratitude. Each reading includes a scripture passage, a meditation that further discusses the content of the book, and practical exercises to help us become more thankful people. One aspect of Choosing Gratitude that I appreciate most is DeMoss' transparency. Choosing gratitude has not always been an easy choice for DeMoss; she shares her struggle with obedience in this area, how she sought accountability, and the things she does to help her maintain an attitude of gratitude to

Choosing Gratitude by Nancy Leigh DeMoss is a great read. If you are a fan of her writing, you will not be disappointed in this book. I thought I was a generally grateful person, once I read this book I realized how much work I need to do in my own life. I'm not going to sugar coat this; if you read this book, be prepared for conviction almost instantly. She starts by pointing out that "gratitude feels optional...an acceptable sin," and then clearly shows that an ungrateful heart is a sinful heart. On page 24, the author describes how our whining and complaining attitudes are from our lack of the Holy Spirit. I was particularly struck by her use of Romans 1:21, where Paul lists ingratitude along with the "terrible sins". I don't often think of ungratefulness as a "terrible sin" but it is. At the end of chapter 3, I was feeling like a complete ingrate! I can see so many things in my own life that need to change. I was relieved to discover some reasons for gratitude and why it is so important in our daily lives. I had never really thought about the fact that Jesus was giving thanks at the Last Supper. He knew what would happen to Him that night, yet He was grateful. Would we be grateful if we were facing the same circumstances? The author also connects our gratitude with our prayer life. This was an aspect of gratitude I had never considered before. "If you've always wanted prayer to be as natural as breathing, then pave the way with gratitude." It's true. If we have a thankful hearts we want to commune with the One who gives all good things. The author also challenges us to give thanks not only to God but to also to other people. On p. 119 she points out that Paul thanks people in all but 4 epistles. The thankful example of Paul was preserved in Scripture for a reason. An especially great part of this book is that it includes a 30 day devotional in the back of the book. Each day includes a scripture reading and a small devotional. At the end is a challenging statement to help you reflect on the gratitude in your life each day. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to increase the gratitude in their own life. Truly, this is an area everyone can improve on in their own life. Get this book and begin your journey to joy!

I was recently sent a copy of this book and have to admit that I'm a little scared to really dive into it. Nancy DeMoss tackles the subject of gratitude and joy in her new book Choosing Gratitude. This book takes on more than just being thankful for things ... a topic that is especially prevalent at this time of the year. This is deep thankfulness and gratitude for every situation that we are, including (especially) that suffering that is in each of our lives. I see situations like this in mine and my friends' lives right now: ~ watching a family member grow sicker and sicker. ~ a wife watching her husband sign papers. She never, ever anticipated divorce. ~ the child with a genetic illness. Right now, things are okay, but it won't always be that way. ~ the burden of unsaved family members. ~ the job that doesn't come after so many prayers. Ms. DeMoss understands that it is hard to hold on to gratitude ... "hard to find joy when you are looking in mind-bending pain or heart-wrenching disappointment." Those words there that I quoted? That's Joni Erikson Tada - a woman who most of are well-aware of and can't even fathom the life that she lives daily in a wheelchair as a quadrapalegic. (And she has lived that way since she was an older teen.) Joni writes the foreword to this book, and if she says that Nancy DeMoss has something to say about gratitude, I'm ready to listen. But really, it's not Ms. DeMoss that has something to say about gratitude. It's the Lord. If there is anyone (even more than Joni) that understands finding joy in the midst of such sorrow, it's our God. The one that watched His chosen people rebel against Him daily in the Old Testament. That watched His Son mocked and scorned by His own people. In spite of all that our Lord had, and wants us to have, a deep and profound joy that can't be shaken. One of the things that I like about this book is that at the back of it is a 30 day devotional guide to walk you through some of the points that Ms. DeMoss makes in her book. Give you time to digest all she has written and in turn, hopefully work some of that out in your own life. This looks like an excellent book (and resource) and one I'm glad to add to my library.

This question, posed on the back cover, is the perfect way to sum up this book. Nancy Leigh Demoss shares why our life should be full of gratitude and how we can have that kind of depth in our life. We can trade in our whine for worship! When we accept the grace of God in our life we can be full of gratitude for what He has given us...even if it appears to be "bad" in our eyes. I enjoyed the many real life examples of people who have traded in the blues for a heart of gratitude and the incredible perspective they have on life in the midst of some very overwhelming circumstances. Also, Nancy does not leave you hanging as you attempt to apply all that you have learned, she gives a hands-on Bible study to work through at the end of the book. (Or in this case, a printable PDF on the last CD.) It can easily be used without the book and makes for a great follow up on what you have read rather than just putting the book back on your shelf and moving on to the next one. While I would recommend this book in print or audio, I have to say that I really enjoyed the audio version as I worked around the house and surrounded myself in good teaching. Christian Taylor has a beautiful voice that is easy and enjoyable to listen to.