How to Harvest a Grateful Life

It’s that time of year. We know how the season is supposed to go down. Besides pumpkin pie and turkey, we are encouraged to cultivate attitudes of gratitude. And there’s no better way to accomplish it than when we harvest a grateful life.

Such as these areas:

Count your blessings.

Be thankful.

Express your gratefulness.

Show your generosity.

And maybe we do and are these things during Thanksgiving. Perhaps some of us manage to pull it off most of November or even the entire year. 

But when we look at this list, do we think of our lives, our family, and more importantly, our God? 

When we express gratitude for what the Lord has given us and for the great things He has done, we realize we are blessed beyond measure. We harvest a grateful life. Share on X

Yet, how do we harvest a grateful life in all the areas of our lives, for the people in our lives, and for the God who gives us life? 

Even further, are gratitude, generosity, and thanksgiving possible January through December?

So let’s use the list in the introduction and unpack each one.

(1.) Count Your Blessings: Harvest a Grateful Life

Everyone brace yourselves. This is going to blow our minds! The Lord provides:

• Basic needs. 
• Our people: spouse, children, extended family, friends, and Himself in the three persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Skills: jobs, talents, spiritual gifts, and identity in Christ. 
• Life: eternal life, abundant life, and life itself…the very breath in our lungs.
• Every spiritual blessing. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)

If we counted our blessings, really made a list, our mouths may gape open and our hearts fill with gratitude. So…go ahead…make a list. Count your blessings. It’s one of the great ways we harvest a grateful life.

(2.) Be Thankful

Psalm 100 exclaims a thankfulness to the Lord. Look at verse 4, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” (ESV) The psalm paints a picture of thankfulness for God’s goodness and mercy in our lives and so much more. 

And thanksgiving often changes our perspective. Whether life is going great or we are walking through hardships. Thanking God for all He’s done and all He will do cultivates a grateful life.

Why not thank God for everyone and everything He’s given us? After we make our count-my-blessings list, verbally and prayerfully thank God for each one. This will harvest a grateful life.

Whether life is going great or we are walking through hardships. Thanking God for all He’s done and all He will do cultivates a grateful life. Share on X

(3.) Express Your Gratefulness: Harvest a Grateful Life

Recently, I told a friend I was grateful for her friendship. Yet, when was the last time I expressed those same sentiments to family members and to the Lord? Some examples: 

• Spouse, “Honey, I’m so grateful you’re in my life and for all you mean to our family.”
• Children, “I thank the Lord He allowed me to be your mother. You are special to me.”
• Friends, “Your encouragement in my life and my Christian walk means more than you know. I’m grateful for you.”
• God, “Lord, I stand amazed at Your craftsmanship in me as Creator, Your faithfulness and care to me as Father, Your voice and direction to me as Guide, Your revelation and wisdom to me as Truth, and Your redemption and protection for me as Rescuer and Deliverer. Thank You, Lord. I’m so grateful.”

Expressing our gratitude for God and others helps harvest a grateful life.

(4.) Show Your Generosity

Our gratefulness directly affects our generosity. Years ago, as I reflected on gratitude, God spoke to my heart. 

Grateful people are generous people. Generous people are grateful people. 

Grateful people are generous people. Generous people are grateful people.  Share on X

It proves true with me. When gratefulness rises in my heart, I’m more generous with my money and time and service to others. Likewise, when my generosity bubbles over on others, gratefulness swells in my soul. 

Therefore, we ask ourselves if we are generous with our time, money, service, love, spiritual gifts, and forgiveness. 

Do we show acts of generosity to our family, friends, neighbors, community, and the least of these—hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, and imprisoned—as defined in Matthew 25?

Yes, it’s that time of year. But let’s ask the Lord to help us harvest a grateful life.

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. I will not be posting next Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, as I will spend the day with family. I’ll see you the first Thursday of December.

Featured images courtesy of Friday’s Forever on YouTube.

Last week’s post, Taste and See: Recipe for a Thankful Heart.

Sometimes I participate in these link-ups: Let’s Have Coffee/Embracing the Unexpected (Grace & Truth).

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© 2025 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved