In one study, some participants were asked to write down five things for which they were thankful and to do so once a week for ten weeks in a row. Other groups were asked to list five problems that they had encountered in the week. The findings?

Relative to the control groups, those participants from whom expressions of gratitude were solicited tended to feel more optimistic and more satisfied with their lives. Even their health received a boost; they reported fewer physical symptoms (such as headache, acne, coughing, or nausea) and more time spent exercising (The How of Happiness, 91).

Sonja Lyubomirsky’s studies on patients with chronic illnesses have shown that “on the days that individuals strive to express their gratitude, they experience more positive emotions (that is, feelings like interest, excitement, joy, and pride) and are more likely to report helping someone, to feel connected with others, and even to catch more hours of quality sleep.”

Lyubomirsky’s team went on to discover eight reasons thankfulness is so directly related to happiness (pp. 92-95).

1. Grateful thinking promotes the savoring of positive life experiences
“By relishing and taking pleasure in some of the gifts of your life, you will be able to extract the maximum possible satisfaction and enjoyment from your current circumstances.”

2. Expressing gratitude increases confidence
“When you realize how much people have done for you or how much you have accomplished, you feel more confident and efficacious.”

3. Gratitude helps people cope with stress and trauma.
The ­ability to appreciate your life circumstances enable a person to positively reinterpret stressful or negative life experiences. Indeed, traumatic memories are less likely to surface–and are less intense when they do-in those who are regularly grateful. Expressing gratefulness during personal adversity like loss or chronic illness, as hard as that might be, can help you adjust, move on, and perhaps begin anew.

4. The expression of gratitude encourages moral behavior.
“Grateful people are more likely to help others (e.g., you become aware of kind and caring acts and feel compelled to reciprocate) and less likely to be materialistic (e.g., you appreciate what you have and become less fixated on acquiring more stuff).”

5. Gratitude can help build social bonds
It strengthens existing relationships and nurtures new ones. “Keeping a gratitude journal, for example, can produce feelings of greater connectedness with others. Several studies have shown that people who feel gratitude toward particular individuals (even when they never directly express it) experience closer and “higher-quality” relationships with them…In addition, a grateful person is a more positive person, and positive people are better liked by others and more likely to win friends.”

6. Gratitude tends to inhibit invidious comparisons with others
“If you are genuinely thankful and appreciative for what you have (e.g., family, health, home), you are less likely to pay close attention to or envy what the Joneses have.”

7. Gratitude is incompatible with negative emotions
“It may actually diminish or deter such feelings as anger, bitterness, and greed…It’s hard to feel guilty or resentful or infuriated when you’re feeling grateful.”

8. Gratitude helps us thwart hedonic adaptation
Although our capacity to adjust rapidly to any new circumstance or event helps us when the event is unpleasant, it’s a disadvantage when the event provides a positive boost. The practice of gratitude can counteract this adaptation and maintain fresh wonder and joy.

Or as someone else put it: “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High” (Ps. 92:1).

• Consistently grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious, or lonely.
• When researchers pick random volunteers and train them to be more grateful over a period of a few weeks, they become happier and more optimistic, feel more socially connected, enjoy better quality sleep, and even experience fewer headaches than control groups.
• By noticing more kindness you’ll experience more of it in your life. Counting kindness interventions involve taking daily tallies (mental or physical) of kind acts committed and witnessed, and have been shown to increase people’s levels of positivity.
• Gratitude encourages moral behavior and helps people cope with stress, trauma, and adversity.
• It also inhibits negative comparisons with others and pushes out and replaces negative emotions.
• When we express our gratitude to others, we strengthen our relationship with them.
• Studies show that consistently grateful people are happier and more satisfied with their lives
• Thankful people feel more physically healthy and spend more time exercising.

1. God. Yes, I’m thankful to God for God. I owe everything to Him. Thankful for my gracious Father’s daily care, for my gracious Savior’s salvation, and my gracious Spirit’s preserving and sanctifying. So thankful that God is my best friend.
2. Family. Words fail. You all know my heart.
3. Life. Thankful that God spared my life this year when multiple blood clots filled my lungs.
4. Lessons: Thankful for all the life-transforming lessons that the Lord taught me through my illness. Thankful for a slower and more enjoyable mindset and lifestyle
5. Preaching. Still the greatest passion of my heart. So thankful for continued opportunities to preach the Gospel, and especially to regularly serve in the local Free Reformed Church. That means SO much to me.
6. Seminary. Thankful for my Faculty colleagues friends: Joel, Jerry, and Bill. Grateful for your new role, Henk. And indeed very thankful for all the staff. Thankful for a fantastic bunch of students from all over the world. Looking forward to seeing some of you this evening in our home. Thankful for the generous and prayerful support of all our Seminary friends and partners.
7. HeadHeartHand Media. Thank you, David Faasse, for making this possible and for your encouraging and stimulating friendship. Thanks, Dirk, for putting your creative gifts at the service of Christ’s Church. Thanks to Nathan Bingham and Cameron for transforming our web presence. Thanks to all who have given generous support and encouragement in our first year.
8. Blog. I can’t believe how much I enjoy blogging. Thanks, Michael DeWalt, for pushing and pushing me. Thankful for all I’ve learned about writing and communicating in this format. And sooooooo thankful for all who stop by to read and interact with my musings.
9. Church. Very grateful for my faithful pastors at Heritage Reformed Church. Also for the elders, deacons, and everyone who puts so much into our church community. Been especially edified by Pastor Vanderzwaag’s series on Job.
10. Friends. Thankful for the life-enhancing, soul-enriching friendship of Tim Challies, Steven Lee, Chris Larson, Burk Parsons, David & Ann Faasse, Gary Timmer, Gary Kwekel, Rich Ten Elshof, Nate Engelsma, Don & Liz Deater, and so many more…
11. Bloggers. So thankful for the daily soul-blessing labors of Tim Challies, Kevin DeYoung, Bob Kellemen, Jeremy Walker, Justin Taylor, Trevin Wax, the Ligonier team, and Barry York & co. Deeply appreciate your sacrificial service.
12. Apple: Enjoying reading through Steve Jobs bio just now and being reminded of how God in His providence prepared this gifted man to serve His World and His people. Thankful to God for His genius reflected in Jobs life & work. After years of resistance to AT&T charges, I finally succumbed to the Apple iPhone this year. However, thus far, Siri has been more entertaining than helpful.
13. Fishing. God is so good in allowing fishing to continue after Genesis 3! It’s been great to pick up the rod again and re-discover the soul-soothing joys of river-fishing for king salmon and steelhead.
14. Skiing. Well, what else is there to do in Michigan for the next four months?

I could go on, but I have to go to our Thanksgiving service now! Have a happy and holy day.

While I’m by no means suggesting that the annual holiday party be canceled, I am stating that no company-wide bash will take the place of a sincere and unrehearsed thank you in front of colleagues. Better yet, doing so just cost a dime, but will provide huge returns in terms of productivity and employee retention. Public praise from superiors may be in short supply for some companies. For mine, however, we bank on it!

He gives five “Be’s”

Be often: Make it a point that when an opportunity presents itself, even one that would warrant nothing more than a simple “Atta Boy” or “Atta Girl,” do it.

Be sincere: Let the “Thank Yous” come naturally. Don’t try to overdue or over think them. It will give people the belief that you don’t really care and may come across in the exact opposite way that you intended.

Be spontaneous: Don’t wait until a week or two later to congratulate an individual for their hard work. Do it on the spot and in front of others if possible. Praising in public is a great way to boost an entire team’s spirits.

Be everywhere: Get out from behind the desk and go to where the folks you wish to thank actually work. Your kind words will go much farther.

Be encouraging: Convince others to take your lead in providing praise to co-workers and direct reports. It will infuse this practice within your corporate culture.

My redemptive-historical friends are probably already reaching for the comments box. Just before you go, can I say that the most “thank-full” people I’ve come across have always been those who loved the Gospel most. Those who cannot stop thanking the Lord for what He has done for them overflow in thanks to others.

Also, it takes a considerable measure of humility to say “Thank you.” The thanker is saying “I have a need that you have supplied,” or “I don’t deserve what you have given me/done for me.” Neither of these thoughts or words come easily to proud sinners like us. We don’t usually want to admit our need and we deserve far more that we have, don’t we?

But believers in Christ have been humbled, they have been brought to see their need, and they confess that if deservingness is the criteria then hell is their destiny. But having been forgiven much, they love much, and they thank much.

This is what makes Gospel thanks so different from Corporate thanks. The words may be identical, but the motivation is very different. Corporate thanks is motivated by “huge returns in terms of productivity and employee retention.” Gospel thanks is motivated by huge forgiveness for huge sins.

Our corporate and ecclesiastical culture would be more “thank-full” if we were more “Gospel-full.”