How To Develop A Happy Heart

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”


Proverbs 15:13


One of the best reasons to practice saying please and thank you each day is in doing so we shift the focus from ourselves to others and combat the growing sense of entitlement that is becoming more and more prevalent in our society today. I find it interesting but maybe I shouldn’t that there are some people in the world who think saying please and thank you is somehow being rude to other people. Don’t ask me how someone could conclude that but sadly there are. I guess the saying the glass is half full wouldn’t be a positive statement if not for those who see the glass half empty.

In doing an internet word search for the words “thanks” and “thankful” in the Bible I found some 150 instances where they are used in scripture. Giving thanks and being thankful you could say are at the core of faith and are the natural response to our loving and faithful God. It’s been well said, “worship is the thank you that cannot be silenced.”

The bottom line is, thankful people in general are more stable in their emotions, balanced in their approach and studies overwhelming show they enjoy life far more than ungrateful people do. Being thankful is to our general well being what a thermometer is to a fever. Thankfulness is a great gage in checking our emotional, spiritual and even our physical health.

Are you depressed today, discouraged, or just down in the dumps? If so take a moment and pray. Count your blessings today and thank God for all the great things He has done like sending Jesus to die for you. Thank Him for the gift of His Spirit that lives inside of you. Thank Him for His Word that is filled with His promises. Thank Him for the fact that you are alive today and can respond to His voice. Thank Him for the things we so easily take for granted in a country like the United States. Thank Him for water that comes out a faucet and not a hole in the ground. Thank Him for an indoor toilet instead of having to go outside behind a bush or a rock or a tree. Thank Him for a bed, a place to lay down and sleep. Thank Him for the food in your pantry or cupboard and for a toothbrush in your drawer. Thank Him for the roof over your head, and for the locks on your doors.

We have so much to be thankful for! Take time and look around you and not only count but acknowledge the blessings God provides. Say please and thank you as often as you can knowing each time you do its like medicine for your heart and its good for your soul. And just as important know that being grateful is contagious. Saying please and thank you engages others in the blessings of God, and it not only makes the heart of God happy, it makes your own heart happy too.


“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you”

Philippians 1:3


I LOVE YOU!