H a b i t 1 0 : Give Thanks, Be Joyful, Give Glory
Three Greek words that feature prominently in the New Testament are very
closely related: “charis” (grace), “eucharisteo” (give thanks), “chara” (joy, happiness). Experiencing the grace of God gives us thousands of reasons to give thanks to God, which gives us joy and gives God glory. Written in 1647, the Westminster Shorter Catechism famously asks and answers: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.” We like to nuance this answer by saying: “Man and Woman’s chief end is to glorify God by enjoying him and his gifts forever.” In our entitled, unhappy, self-centered generation we have a huge opportunity to point people to God through our enjoyment of God and the abundant life he gives us, which gives him so much glory.
MEMORIZE
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
STUDY JOHN 15:1-17, 1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-19, AND PHILIPPIANS 4:4-7.
What do these 3 texts teach us about grace, intimacy with God, gratitude,
joy, prayer, and God’s will? What indicatives (The indicative mood is a verb form used to make factual statements) and what imperatives (The imperative mood is a verb form that makes a request or a command) stand out in the these passages? Discuss together where you’re at in your discipleship as it relates to these texts and this habit, and share any connections you can make with the core book you’re reading.
“What do you have that you did not receive?” 1 Corinthians 4:7
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“It’s habits that can imprison you and it’s habits that can free you. But when thanks to God becomes a habit— so joy in God becomes your life.” Ann Voskamp
GIVE THANKS—CULTIVATE A HABIT OF GRATITUDE.
Loving God, obeying God, loving your neighbor, giving thanks to God, and
everything Jesus has been summoning us to through this guidebook is a call to new habits—to a new way of walking that is in line with our new identity as sons and daughters of the Father. One of the most important habits we can cultivate is giving thanks to God. Before talking about this habit, practice this habit together. Take the next 5, 10, or 15 minutes as a Discipleship Group to praise God, to give him thanks for everything you can think of. You can thank God for who he is. You can thank God for his grace. You can thank God for his providence, his promises, the many gifts and blessings he’s given you, the breakfast you ate this morning, the big prayer he just answered, etc… Once you’ve given thanks together, discuss what you’re finding helpful for building a lifetime habit of giving thanks. What would it look like for you to create a stronger culture of gratitude among your Discipleship Group, and to spread that culture in our church and city?
“I am filled with gratitude for my problems. As I study the Scriptures I realize that where there were problems, there were also God’s miracles.”
MEMORIZE
- Joshua Choonmin Kang
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Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! - Psalm 118:1
“Gratitude is not only a response to God in good times—it’s ultimately the very will of God in hard times. Gratitude isn’t only a celebration when good things happen. It’s a declaration that God is good no matter what happens.”
Ann Voskamp
BE JOYFUL/BE HAPPY—MAKE CHOICES THAT CULTIVATE A HABIT OF HAPPINESS.
Everybody on the planet is seeking happiness. This deep desire is a good thing,
part of being created in the image of a happy God. But most people are seeking happiness from the wrong source, from idols and false gods. As disciples we know the life, love, goodness, care, and joy of the living God, we are invited (and commanded!) by God to be a joyful people whose thoughts, emotions, and faces speak to the abundant life we have in God. The Bible calls us deeper into this lifestyle of joy regardless of our personality, temperament, temptations, or past. Through our unique personalities and stories God can display different flavors of joy. Discuss as a group your journey with joy and what you’re finding helpful for building a habit of happiness. Interact with the suggestions and quotes below. • Don’t wait to be happy. God calls us to a joy that is bigger than our circumstances. As Randy Alcorn says (read his book recommended at the end of this chapter!), “Anyone who waits to be happy will never be happy.” Choose right now to be happy in God and in this day that he has made for you. • Make choices that cultivate joy. We can choose joy. “Rejoice” is a verb. Pay attention to the choice you make and how they help or hinder joy. Both joy and joylessness are states of mind that self-perpetuate. • Repent your way to happiness. Often the fastest way to happiness is through repentance—repenting of our self focus, or our ingratitude, or our forgetting of God, or whatever it might be. • Hang out with happy people. Joyful people will rub off on you, hang out with them. • Obey your way to happiness. God’s commands aren’t burdensome, they are the commands of a loving Father who wants to guide us into abundant life and joy. • Live with an eternal perspective. Your life on this earth is very short. That “thing” you’re letting get in the way of experiencing joy right now is a minuscule speck on the horizon of eternity. Put things in eternal perspective. • Take a year to study everything the Bible has to say about joy, happiness, laughter, gratitude, praise, delight, celebration, feasts, dancing, singing, gladness, and making merry.
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Ann Voskamp
“Being joyful isn’t what makes you grateful. Being grateful is what makes you joyful.”
“Joy…is characterized by a quietude that is the opposite of anxiety—the exhale of someone who has been holding her breath out of fear or worry or insecurity. It is the blissful rest of someone who realizes she no longer has to perform; she is loved. We find joy in the grace of God precisely because he is the one we don’t have to prove anything to.”
MEMORIZE
- James K.A. Smith
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.Psalm 16:11
“According to my judgement the most important point to be attended to is this: above all things see to it that your souls are happy in the Lord. Other things may press upon you, the Lord’s work may even have urgent claims upon your attention, but I deliberately repeat, it is of supreme and paramount importance that you should seek above all things to have your souls truly happy in God Himself! Day by day seek to make this the most important business of your life. This has been my firm and settled condition for the last five and thirty years. For the first four years after my conversion I knew not its vast importance, but now after much experience I specially commend this point to the notice of my younger brethren and sisters in Christ: the secret of all true effectual service is joy in God, having experimental acquaintance and fellowship with God Himself.”
George Muller
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“A study indicates that children laugh an average of four hundred times daily, adults only fifteen. So what happens between childhood and maturity that damages our capacity for happiness?”
- Randy Alcorn
“The people of God ought to be the happiest people in all the wide world! People should be coming to us constantly and asking about the source of our joy and delight.”
- A .W. T o z e r
MEMORIZE
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24
GIVE GLORY TO GOD—CULTIVATE A LIFESTYLE OF GLORIFYING GOD IN ALL THAT YOU DO BY ENJOYING GOD AND HIS GIFTS.
The reason God created the universe and created you is for his glory. The
purpose of the tallest mountain ranges, the purpose of your life, and the purpose of our church is to glorify God. To glorify God is to ascribe worth, weight, worship, honor, and awe to God. And Scripture teaches that the way we do that is not through sitting in an eternal church service, but through keeping God’s glory as our chief aim in all that we do—writing an email, washing the dishes, starting a company, having a difficult conversation, exercising, eating dinner, experiencing disappointment, filing taxes, making a purchase, listening to a sermon, making a big decision or a little decision, talking to a stranger, etc. We give God glory in whatever we do as we find our ultimate joy in him and the many undeserved gifts he’s given us. Our mission statement is “Depending on God to grow disciples deep & wide for God’s glory”—another way to word it would be “Delighting in God to grow disciples deep & wide for God’s glory.” Discuss as a Discipleship Group the various “glories” you can be tempted to live for, and the various glories popular culture is championing right now. How can we keep a vision for the glory of God uppermost in our lives, our relationships, and our church? What are some specific practices that you’re finding helpful for enjoying and glorifying God in all you do? The following 3 questions are a helpful framework for evaluating anything related to your life as a disciple/leader. Talk through these questions together as it related to living with God’s glory as the main motivation of your life: 1) What do you need to start doing? 2) What do you need to stop doing? 3) What do you need to keep doing?
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MEMORIZE
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
- John Piper
HAVE FUN!
It’s fun to be a Christian. Don’t forget that. Take God seriously, but don’t take
yourself too seriously. Having fun is a great way to glorify God, to enjoy the life God has given you, and to point people toward the creator of fun: God.
“It’s fun to be a Christian.” Jack Miller
“Our happiness makes the gospel contagiously appealing; our unhappiness makes it alarmingly unattractive.” Randy Alcorn
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“The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” Saint Irenaeus
MEMORIZE
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory. - Psalm 118:24
MAIN TAKEAWAY: We’re a church of disciples who practice the habit of giving thanks, being joyful, and glorifying God in all that we do.
What is God saying to you?
What’s your next step?
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES FOR HABIT 10: Happiness, Randy Alcorn One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp Spirituality of Gratitude, Joshua Choonmin Kang Desiring God and When I Don’t Desire God, John Piper The Pleasures of God, John Piper He Has Made Me Glad, Ben Patterson
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“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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Romans 15:4-6
“Whenever two people come in contact with each other, they will never be the same. After any encounter, they leave either more encouraged or more discouraged. The good news is that you can consciously choose the impact you will have on those with whom you spend time…Nothing is more fun than encouraging others.”