Growing in Gratitude: Rediscovering the Joy of a Thankful Heart

by Mary K. Mohler

As women, we are often encouraged to "count our blessings". But truly biblical gratitude is much more than this.

Mary K. Mohler unpacks Scripture to help us grow in gracious gratitude (thanking God for who he is) as well as natural gratitude (thanking him for his blessings) — and to identify and deal with some of the things that hinder us — to help us rediscover the joy of a thankful heart.

This thoroughly Bible-centered unpacking of the reasons for gratitude builds on Mary K. Mohler's 25 years experience in mentoring seminary wives at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter make this book ideal for group use as well as for individuals.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Theology, Nonfiction, Christian Non Fiction, Faith, Christianity

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2018

Reviews

[Jami Balmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has moved to my “must-read” list!! It’s technically written to women and has a few references to you as a wife or mom, but I must say, it would make an excellent study for a family or a couple to go through! I’m going to suggest this book to our extended family for our next Balmet Family Book Study.

Anyway: the book is short and to the point (which I appreciate). I felt like it started a little slow, probably because I’ve read a lot on this subject. But the book just picked up steam the more I read. Mary has so many wonderful encouragement and advice straight from Scripture on being more thankful. But she goes far beyond the typical advice of “count your blessings”, etc. She goes into our thankfulness in direct relation to God and our response to him! Such an encouraging and convicting read!!

And for those who follow my podcast: I got to interview Mary for my podcast and that will be coming in July and I did a solo episode with all my take always from the book and what I’ll be working on! It obviously gave me a lot to think about ;)

[Laura Robinson (naptimereaders) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this small book of wisdom and encouragement. Seriously, only 103 pages- this book is jammed with so much encouragement on the theme of thankfulness and gratitude.

In this book you will find reasons to be grateful in seasons of doubt, pain and suffering and even those moments you wish life would be different. The author, Mary, really encourages you to look at scripture and believe that Jesus is our strength, when we are weak. And that he will provide moments of thankfulness, when when we can’t see a way out.

I really loved her analogy of a throne on a rose.
“Roses are among the most beautiful and fragrant. We have no problem thanking the Lord for the beauty of every rose he allows us to enjoy, each one delicately created by our Creator in vibrant color. Yet I cannot recall even one time when I thanked the Lord for placing sharp thorns along the stems of those beautiful flowers, and I'm guessing you can't either. There is nothing beautiful about those thorns. yet they are not there by accident. God chose to place them there-probably to protect the blooms from animals who may want to eat them.”

This will be a book I pass on and recommend to everyone!

[Emily Dauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book Mary K. Mohler tells us to be grateful. Explains that as Christian people our lives should be defined by gratefulness for who God is, and what He had done for us. She tells us not to only be grateful to Him through the good times, or for only what seems to be good things, but also through the bad times, and what we call bad things.
This book has helped me to see clearly that I should be grateful for who God is everyday of my life. I should praise Him for all the things He’s given me. I should grow closer to Him through the hard times, by praising and thanking His beautiful name.
I should thank Him even for the things He’s done through friends I’ve lost, things I miss, bad habits, and sins I have a hard time letting go of, because He is growing me through it all, and that is something to be grateful for. This book has truly helped me grow in gratitude, and that is something I am grateful for too.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” - G.K. Chesterton

“What we need today is not ever increasingly clever methods, still less increasingly clever people, but obedience informed and motivated by the loving and abiding word of God.” - James Boice

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” - Colossians‬ ‭2:6-7‬ ‭

[Rachel Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a quick, easy read full of truth and encouragement. “Rediscovering the joy of a thankful heart” explains it perfectly. Would recommend!!

[Suzana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Didático, prático e edificante! ❤️

[Paloma JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1libro7días
Día 7 ✔️
Tenía pensado leer este libro desde ya hace tiempo y me pareció una buena opción para este reto #1libro7días.
Es un libro sencillo de leer porque es muy claro en el tema, edificante a pesar de todo porqué nos recuerda lo que es estar agradecidos.
Pero creo que podría ser más corto ya que la autora da muchos ejemplos que pienso están de más.

[Emily Crutchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking gratitude further and deeper than counting blessings and writing nice thank you notes.
A real challenge to the busyness, self absorption and entitlement that has taken root in our hearts. Gratitude is counter cultural and takes intentional cultivation.

Praying that I become someone who, when jostled, spills over gratitude - the true sense of what "overflowing/abounding in thankfulness" would look like.

[Erica Schrader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick, easy read but packs so many punches of great truth and application. Loved it!

[Fifaliana Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always had a hard time with gratitude, maybe I've overthought it. This book really helped me see gratitude from a new and practical perspective. It was a great book to start the year with, I'm grateful to have discovered and read it.

[Allison Haskell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a great reminder to be thankful for who God is. A quick and easy read with a whole lot of great, solid truth.

[Myllena Melo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esse livro consegue ser mais do que só sobre gratidão. Amplifica de modo bem direto, como um comportamento ingrato afeta todas as áreas da nossa vida. Sem dúvidas, um dos melhores no tema que já li.

[Laís Bockorni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro inspirador sobre gratidão ao Senhor.

[JonEllen Blanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary addressed “the gratitude twins” in chapter 2 as framework for the rest of the book.
1. Natural gratitude—thankfulness for blessings received
2. Gracious gratitude—thankfulness for God himself

Super clear and helpful ways to consider how gratitude is learned and the spirit can help us be truly grateful for all that our lives have been and are.

[Karen Dauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an insightful book!

[Shannan Andersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Mary Mohler digs deep into the root of gratefulness! She reminds us that all gratitude stems from the unfathomable grace we have received in Christ. So much more than a “write one thing you are grateful for each day on a cute piece of paper” type of a book. Mary exhorts us to examine our hearts and to recognize that gratitude overflows from a heart that trusts in the character of our great God!

[Bambi Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very encouraging!

[Beth Lauder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book that goes far beyond the point of it being necessary to be thankful. Mrs. Mohler helps us see what sinful mindsets we need to put off in order to put on more gratitude. I am grateful to God that He used this book to help me identify my hinderances to gratitude so that I can get busy being thankful in all things! A quick read, but one that I will be pondering and applying often in the future.

[Tina Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the best books I have read that challenges us to be thankful in everything.
I loved the book so much I have began challenging others to keep a thankfulness journal.

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gratidão é um assunto que por vezes não tem o olhar refinado do que realmente significa. Este livro me trouxe um nova perspectiva para ser grata em todo tempo.

[Rachel Menke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise that not only motivated me to be more grateful but gave some great theological reasons and practical ways to do this. Mrs. Mohler builds off a quote from her husband to explore how our thankfulness (or lack thereof) is actually a microcosm of our theology. This is terribly convicting but you are not left there but instead given some ways to practice and truly grow in gratitude. The idea of gracious gratitude vs natural gratitude was new to me and extremely helpful. The weak points of the book for me was a lot of assuming that her readers were married housewives and the four middle chapters in which she explores four common hindrances to gratitude. They are well written chapters but I felt that personally none of these (lost loved ones, busyness, suffering, or guilt) is what hinders me but more-so my own sinful self-reliance, pride, and laziness. So I guess by ruling out the others I discovered my hindrance as well! Mrs. Mohler also gives great practical advice that goes beyond the typical “Be more thankful” writing. I especially appreciated her thoughts on the difference between a genuine and duty-written thank you note, the idea of a “thank you for my ‘thorns’” list and Scriptures to meditate in this, and helpful reflections on the marvels of modern-day technology and how they can hinder our gratitude but how we can also be mindful in our thankfulness for them. This book definitely has a lot for me to think about as I look forward to personally growing in gratitude!

[Keidy Sheilyn Reinoso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excelente material, sencillo, pero necesario.
El tema de la gratitud nunca está de más, siempre es bueno tenerlo fresco en la mente. Por lo que disfrute esta lectura.
Entiendo que de alguna forma, hubo un intento de extender de más un tema algo sencillo y practico y nos dio algunas vueltas para llegar finalmente al punto clave. Creo pudo ser más precisa.

Pero sin duda alguna, un recordatorio que es siempre bienvenido

[Gavin Felgate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book all about gratitude, something that often feels all too uncommon in modern times; as author Mary K. Mohler notes:

"Have you noticed how "please" and "thank you" have somehow vanished as people tend to either grunt or say nothing at all?"

The book mainly focuses on showing gratitude to Jesus, for all that He has done for us, making use of passages from the Bible, and quotes from famous authors, including G.K. Chesterton's observation:

"The worst moment for an atheist is when he is really thankful and has no one to thank".

There were a lot of challenging bits of the book; firstly the thought of how anyone can come to Jesus, and how no one is beyond redemption. There are multiple references to the conversion of St. Paul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, with Paul himself described as "arguably the greatest Christian who has ever lived".

There were also a few chapters about rejoicing, and even being thankful for, sufferings, something that a lot of atheists, like Stephen Fry, would definitely struggle with, but the book gave some really encouraging real-life examples, like songwriter George Matheson, whose fianse left him when he started going blind at the age of 20.

This was a short and easy read, so I was able to get through it quickly; I found to be a challenging and encouraging read.

[Raquel Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um livro pequeno no tamanho, mas gigante em conteúdo. Com apenas 103 páginas, Mary Mohler nos surpreende ao tratar um tema tão conhecido — a gratidão — com profundidade, clareza e impacto. Quando pensei que já sabia tudo o que poderia sobre esse assunto, fui profundamente confrontada e edificada.

Mohler vai à raiz da gratidão, mostrando que ela não é apenas um sentimento momentâneo, mas uma postura do coração firmada na confiança no caráter fiel e soberano de Deus. Com sensibilidade e firmeza, ela nos conduz a enxergar a gratidão como fruto de um coração que descansa em quem Deus é.

Cada capítulo é didaticamente estruturado e traz perguntas de reflexão que enriquecem ainda mais a leitura, tornando o livro excelente para uso em devocionais pessoais ou em pequenos grupos. Além de nos instruir, o livro nos exorta com amor e sabedoria a cultivar um coração grato, mesmo em meio às dificuldades.

Recomendo. É leitura simples, prática e transformadora.

[Coalición por el Evangelio]

«Sublime gratitud» es un libro que te permite examinar tu vida y encaminarla hacia la voluntad de Dios. Mientras avanzaba a través de las páginas, consideraba más y más cómo mis actitudes diarias muchas veces no reflejan un corazón agradecido y que ello no daba buen testimonio de mi Salvador. Afortunadamente, Mary no nos deja ahí. Luego de ser confrontada con mi pecado, fui exhortada para ver cómo puedo cambiar en el poder del Espíritu y para la gloria de Dios.

Lee la reseña completa en Coalición por el Evangelio.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty excited to read a book written by the wife of The Briefing host, Al Mohler. Mary Mohler does a wonderful job outlining an exhortation to gratitude in 8 easy to read, wide margined, double spaced chapters. "We are to be like a fountain that is continually filled to overflowing. We are not only to exhibit gratitude but we are to overflow with it, such that it spills out into all we do." Participated in a Bible Study class that used this text and with some creativity adding to the chapter end questions made for a stimulating and encouraging meditation.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

an encouraging read

Written with an easy flow. Applicable. “This is not a check-the-box lesson, but rather, thankfulness sprouts from the core of our being. It is genuine, heartfelt, irrepressible, and deepening. We do not arrive at an acceptable level of gratitude and call it a day. As we grow in maturity in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus, we will discover new reasons to praise him even as we find new ways to thank him for characteristics he has held since eternity past.”

[Lindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is largely targeted for Christian women. As A.W. Tozer essentially said, what we do with and how we view God is the most important thing about us. Our problems with ingratitude stem from our views of the Lord, the Creator and our Redeemer. This book is an excellent call to restore a proper fear of the Lord. It is also filled with Scripture and practical advice to combat the main contributors to our lack of gratitude. I am very thankful for Mary Mohler and this book.

[Courtney Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with biblical truth. I plan to read this every year and will probably pick it up to refresh my mind and heart throughout the year, too. Mohler is direct, practical and no-nonsense, but also warm, compassionate and sympathetic. Hearing hard truths (and simply truths that convict!) from her is helpful, not hard to take, because she writes with with such love for fellow believers striving to “grow in gratitude,” and such a desire to help us do so.

[Laura Eder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wish there were half stars as I'd rate this 3.5. I would recommend it for anyone wanting to grow in gratitude. Some helpful, biblical motivation and practical steps to take. Appreciate the format with simple prayers and questions at the end of each chapter. There were a couple of wonderful analogies and some personal sharing but I was hoping for a deeper dive. It's an easy read and one worth the time, but it may fall short of expectations for some.