HABIT AND ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE — DAY 1

"Gratitude Before the Gift: The Forgotten Foundation"

Grace and Peace My Ekklesia Family

True gratitude isn't a response to blessing—it's a posture of worship that precedes obedience and positions us to receive what God has already prepared.

Romans 1:21-23

"Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles."

Romans 12:1-2

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

Leviticus 7:12-13

"If you present your peace offering as an expression of thanksgiving, the usual animal sacrifice must be accompanied by various kinds of bread made without yeast—thin cakes mixed with olive oil, wafers spread with oil, and cakes made of choice flour mixed with olive oil. This peace offering of thanksgiving must also be accompanied by loaves of bread made with yeast."

In Romans 1, Paul isn't writing about pagans who never heard of God. He's describing people who knew God but refused to honor Him with gratitude. The Greek word for "gave thanks" is eucharisteō—the root of our word "Eucharist." It means to express gratitude, to acknowledge grace received. Their refusal wasn't intellectual—it was positional. They wouldn't bow. They wouldn't thank.

And notice the sequence: no gratitude → darkened minds → foolish reasoning → idol worship.

Gratitude wasn't optional. It was the hinge between knowing God and honoring God.

In Leviticus 7, the peace offering (also called the fellowship offering) had a specific category: the thanksgiving offering. It wasn't given after God answered. It was given because God is worthy—before the breakthrough, during the waiting, in spite of the silence. It required yeast and oil—symbols of the Holy Spirit and the presence of God in everyday life. Gratitude wasn't a religious performance. It was worship in motion.

We live in a generation that has confused complaint with clarity and ingratitude with intellectualism. We think because we can identify what's broken, we've somehow transcended the need to give thanks. But Paul says the opposite: ingratitude is the first step toward spiritual blindness.

You can know all the right theology.

You can attend all the right services.

You can quote all the right Scriptures.

But if you refuse to cultivate a habit of gratitude, your mind will darken, your discernment will dull, and you will start worshiping the wrong things—comfort, control, convenience, opinion.

The Shift isn't just about a new location or a new season. It's about a new posture. And that posture begins with gratitude before the gift.

Here's the truth some of us don't want to hear:

Your attitude reveals what you're actually worshiping.

If you're constantly critical, perpetually dissatisfied, chronically complaining—you're not being "real." You're being rebellious. You've made an idol out of your expectations and your feelings.

Gratitude isn't toxic positivity. It's prophetic obedience. It says, "God, I don't see it yet, but I trust You. I don't feel it yet, but I honor You. I don't have it yet, but I thank You anyway."

Today, before you ask God for anything, thank Him for three things you've been taking for granted. Your breath. Your sanity. Your second chance. Your children. Your freedom. Your next opportunity.

Don't wait until you feel like it. Gratitude is a discipline, not a mood.

And if you've been living in complaint, ingratitude, or bitterness—repent. Not because God is petty, but because your future is tied to your posture, and ingratitude will lock you out of what God has already prepared.

Father,

Forgive us for the times we've known You but refused to thank You. Forgive us for taking Your grace for granted, for treating Your provision like it's owed to us, for complaining more than we celebrate.

Today, we choose gratitude—not because everything is perfect, but because You are faithful.

We thank You for breath in our lungs, clarity in our minds, and grace we didn't earn. We thank You for bringing us through what should have broken us. We thank You for loving us even when we were ungrateful.

Holy Spirit, cultivate in us a habit of gratitude that transforms our minds, opens our eyes, and positions us to receive everything You've already prepared.

We declare: we will not darken our own future with ingratitude.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

If you've been living in spiritual autopilot—knowing God but not honoring Him, familiar with grace but not grateful for it—today is your reset.

This isn't about religion. It's about relationship. It's about learning to walk with Jesus not just when it's convenient, but when it costs you your complaint.

At Ekklesia Christian Life Ministries, we're building a community of people who are learning to live sent—not stuck. Obedient—not offended. Grateful—not entitled.

If that's the kind of faith you want to build, we'd love to walk with you.

Visit us at ekklesiachristianlife.org or join us live as we step into The Shift together.

You don't have to do this alone.

LoveUMoreThanUKnow

Pastor Stephän Kirby