How to Communicate Gratitude

November is one of my favorite months of the year because it contains my favorite holiday of the year: Thanksgiving.

Sure, part of it is because I love turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, time with family and cool fall weather. But even more than that is the focus on gratitude.

I believe there is no attitude that can change a person’s life more than gratitude.

• Ungrateful people are grumpy, while grateful people are happy.
• Ungrateful people are stingy, while grateful people are generous.
• Ungrateful people blame others, while grateful people share compliments.
• Ungrateful people are prideful, while grateful people are humble.
• Ungrateful people are unaware of God’s great love for them, while grateful people respond to God’s love by worshiping him and following him whole-heartedly

Unfortunately, most of us (myself included) have a tendency to take things, people and God for granted. Sometimes we get so caught up in circumstances that are not going the way we’d like, that we forget how blessed we really are.  Or we have moments where we feel grateful but neglect to express it to others because we’re so busy or we forget. But as Robert Brault once wrote…

There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude. -Robert Brault

So this month, our theme here at OurChurch.Com is Thanksgiving Month.

Our goal is to provide resources, guidance and encouragement so you can better thank your staff, volunteers, supporters, and God during this Thanksgiving season. And we want to help you raise the value of gratitude among those in your church, school, nonprofit or business.

You can start by sharing your thoughts and perspective in this month’s Listening Post survey.

Throughout the month we’ll be publishing articles, sharing resources, and adding links below:

• 25 Thanksgiving Bible Verses to Inspire and Share
• 25 Thanksgiving Quotes to Inspire Gratitude
• 7 Ways to Prepare Your Website for Thanksgiving
• 7 Ways to Express Gratitude Online
• Here is a simple way to show gratitude to your staff
• 3 Ways Gratitude is Good for SEO
• 12 Funny and Inspiring Thanksgiving Videos
• A Great Way to Express Gratitude and Build Community

If we can help you with web design, web hosting, or SEO for your church, school, nonprofit or business, please let us know.

Please post a comment and tell us what you think about gratitude:

1. What do you think is the greatest barrier in your life to expressing gratitude?
2. What things will you be doing this month to express gratitude to others?