Joy Leads to Gratitude

Scripture — 1 Thessalonians 3:9 (NRSV)

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?

Devotion

In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I wrote about how gratitude can be the foundation for joy. We see this in many psychological studies and, more importantly, in Scripture. Plus, we have experienced the magnifier effect of gratitude, whereby giving thanks makes God’s good gifts to us larger, in a way. The magnification of gratitude often leads to and enhances our joy.

If we reflect upon our personal experience, we have no doubt experienced the emotional movement from gratitude to joy. When something good happens in our lives, we are thankful. If we pay attention to our thankfulness, it can blossom into joy.

We experience this kind of joy each year during our celebrations of Advent and Christmas. Our deep gladness is a response to the extravagant goodness of God, who was born in a stable for the sake of our salvation. As the beloved carol proclaims, the world has joy because “the Lord is come.”

But it turns out that the road between gratitude and joy isn’t a one-way street. In 2017, Philip C. Watkins, along with colleagues from Eastern Washington University and Robert Emmons of U.C. Davis, published an article called “Joy is a distinct positive emotion: Assessment of joy and relationship to gratitude and well-being.” Based on three studies they did related to joy and gratitude, Watkins and his team found that “gratitude is important for experiences of joy” (p. 12). Yet they also found that joy can lead to gratitude:

Not only does gratitude promote joy, in Study 3 we found that over time dispositional joy predicted enhanced gratitude. This suggests an intriguing upward spiral between gratitude and joy: as one cultivates the disposition for gratitude, this increases the frequency of experiences of joy, which in turn should foster the disposition of joy, thus increasing gratitude (p. 13).

In more popular language, the scholars found that “gratitude promotes joy and joy promotes gratitude” (p. 14). Plus, both joy and gratitude contribute substantially to “subjective well-being.” They help us to flourish.

We see an example of joy promoting gratitude in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. He wrote this letter not long after his missionary visit to Thessalonica, during which a number of people became Christians. Yet, after Paul left them to minister elsewhere, the new believers in Thessalonica experienced affliction because of their faith. Hearing about this, Paul was greatly disturbed. So he sent his co-worker, Timothy, to check on the Thessalonian believers and encourage them.

When Timothy returned to Paul from his time in Thessalonica, he brought back a positive report. The Thessalonians were thriving in their faith. They remembered Paul fondly and hoped to see him again. In response to this report, Paul wrote the letter we know as 1 Thessalonians. In this letter, he said, “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?” (3:9). In this instance, Paul’s thanks is based on his joy over how the Thessalonian Christians are doing. Joy comes first, followed by gratitude.

In 1 Thessalonians, as in other passages from the Bible, joy can lead to gratitude, even as gratitude can lead to joy. This reflects what scholars discovered through their research. They write, “For religious people, gratitude to God may be particularly important to their experience of joy. Likewise, a disposition for joy may be important for enhancing one’s gratitude for God” (p. 4). There is the “joy spiral” once again. Gratitude leads to joy. Joy leads to gratitude, which leads to joy, which leads to gratitude, and so forth and so on.

I am writing this devotion on an airplane, a few weeks before you will read it. Because we’re flying at night, all the window shades are closed. So the only view I have is of the seat back in front of me and the screen that shows the progress of our plane. But when you read this devotion on Tuesday, November 25, I will be in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, Zion National Park in Utah. My words cannot adequately convey the majesty and glory of this red rock canyon. As a lover of nature, when I’m in Zion Canyon, I feel deep, abiding joy. I sense the unmatched artistry of God. I feel grateful that God made human beings to be able to appreciate beauty.

In my disposition of joy, I find it easy to be grateful. Yes, I’m grateful for the splendor before my eyes. But the joy I feel in this place increases my gratitude. And my gratitude increases my joy.

You may not be in a place like Zion Canyon right now. If you look out the window, you may see a busy city or a garden that has lost its leaves. But surely there are things in life for which you are grateful. Pay attention to these! And perhaps you will soon be in touch with special joys, the joy of gathering with family and friends, the joy of eating delicious food, the joy of worshipping with your community of faith, the joy of remembering loved ones who are now with the Lord, etc. Pay attention to your joy! Let your joy enhance your gratitude, and your gratitude stimulate your joy.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Working Faith, Finishing Up, and Keeping the Faith (1 Thess. 1:1–4:8; 4:13–5:28; 2 Thess. 1:1-2:17).