Gratitude: Why Giving Thanks Is the Key to Our Well-Being

by Cornelius Plantinga

Overview

"This worthy meditation on an essential state of being uplifts without sugarcoating."--Publishers Weekly

What is gratitude? Where does it come from? Why do we need it? How does it change us?

In Gratitude, award-winning author Cornelius Plantinga explores these questions and more. Celebrating the role of gratitude in our lives, Plantinga makes the case that it is the very key to understanding our relationships with one another, the world around us, and God.

Going deeper than mindfulness and positive psychology, Plantinga explores gratitude in a theologically informed and pastorally sensitive way. He shows that being grateful to God is not only our righteous duty but also the single best predictor of our well-being. Gratitude makes us more faithful, joyful, generous, healthy, and content.

While it's easy to focus on the suffering, fear, and worries that surround us, Plantinga places all of that in the larger context of provision, abundance, and delight, empowering readers to experience the deep joy of giving thanks.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493444946
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/06/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	543,149
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Cornelius (Neal) Plantinga (PhD, Princeton Theological Seminary) is senior research fellow at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and president emeritus of Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the author of many books, including the Christianity Today Book Award winners Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, Engaging God's World, and Reading for Preaching. He is also the author of Under the Wings of God: Twenty Biblical Reflections for a Deeper Faith and Morning and Evening Prayers.

Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
1. What Is Gratitude?
2. How Do We Get Gratitude?
3. What Blocks My Gratitude?
4. What Happens to Me if I Am Grateful?
5. Biblical Themes
6. Thank God! Why?
7. It Could Always Be Worse
8. Savoring and Celebrating
9. Taking Care
10. A Cornucopia of Gifts

Editorial Reviews

11/20/2023

Christianity “is a religion of... gratitude, centering on Jesus’s brave sacrifice of his life,” posits theologian Plantinga (Under the Wings of God) in this astute response to the perennial question, “How can I seriously thank God when the world seems so awful?” Among other aspects, gratitude involves finding “the good in a bad situation” (those with debilitating illnesses can become “exquisitely sensitive to the offsetting blessings they enjoy despite it all,” Plantinga points out) and nurturing that for which one is thankful, including one’s faith (by “pray when we don’t feel like it... we meditate on God’s Word, hoping for a ray of light”). Noting that “gratitude triggered by the memory of goodness is a classic biblical pattern,” Plantinga cites the Bible’s many exhortations for Israelites to remember God’s “mighty hand and outstretched arm” in delivering them from Egypt. While the author’s short lists of how-tos borrow mostly from traditional self-help (writing a list of things one is grateful for; imitating others’ acts of gratitude), his observations about gratitude’s nuances and complexities resonate, as when he acknowledges that it coexists with sin and pain, something often ignored in “unrelievedly cheerful” evangelical services (“How do we thank God for forgiving our sin when we won’t talk about our sin?”). This worthy meditation on an essential state of being uplifts without sugarcoating. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly