Do you feel that you’ve had a lot of bad luck in your life, that other people have had it so much easier, that life just isn’t fair? Well stop right there, because if you are a Christian, a true Christian, there’s no way that you should be thinking like that. Have you forgotten? God gave his only son to be nailed to a cross so that you might have eternal life. The saving grace of God towers over everything else, all your petty worries, all your trivial anxieties. Keeping a Christian Gratitude Journal is a great way to keep reminding yourself of that.

Like all things in life, to get good at it, you need to practice. You need to recognize that all things come from God. You’ll find plenty of stuff out there about keeping a gratitude journal, but that’s not the same as keeping a Christian Gratitude Journal. Those journals are all about feeling good about yourself for stuff you’ve done. You got a new job, well whoop de doo, good for you. All that kind of journaling is going to do is reinforce your vanity, your love of the material things in life, your distance from God.

When you keep a Christian Journal, the focus is on God, not on you or your circumstances. Look for God in all things and reflect upon His influence on your life. Consider His Goodness and recognize His guidance. Keep a track of your blessings. Once you start to do these things you will feel yourself drawing closer to God. And with that will come a growing sense of well being, less anxiety, less anger. Your perspective will begin to shift as, in the words of the poet William Blake, you see ‘Heaven in a wild flower’.

Gratitude journaling should be an integral part of your Christian journaling process. A daily sacred space where sit and talk to God, one to one. That’s why our Christian Journal includes a specific prompt for ‘Gratitude’ within each entry. With Christian Gratitude journaling it may, to begin with, feel like you can’t see the trees for the wood; you can’t see the innumerable details of God’s creation because you’re surrounded by it, you are part of it. Don’t panic, like I said, gratitude takes practice. You’ll find plenty of helpful Christian prompt sheets on the Internet, but I always feel it’s better to follow your own spiritual path. You might want to start by thinking about how God first came into your life, or about how He has helped you in times of need. Or you may choose to remember happy experiences when you felt close to God or perhaps there are people who have been particularly important in helping you with your spiritual growth.  Once you start the process you will be filled with joy in the rediscovery of your countless blessings.  Remember, this is always just about you and God, no one else. All you need is the Scripture by your side and an open heart.