5 Reminders about Gratitude That Will Slow You Down and Change Your Life

I bet you’ve been there. A very real crisis threatens to ruin everything, so in your desperation, you cry out to God for help. Weeks, months, or even years pass as you struggle with or stare down a worst-case scenario. And then, one glorious day, the problem goes away, and you experience relief, exactly as you asked.

Then something strange happens. You are rightfully elated at the moment, but before you know it, the busyness of life sweeps you away into the next calendar event or issue. Soon, you ] rarely think about the very crisis that once consumed your thoughts and energies. Why does this happen? Because the best things in life are also the most easily overlooked.

To lose sight of the good is not only a human thing, it is also a biblical one. In Luke 17, we find ten lepers living in the most desperate predicament. These poor people in such a wretched state cry out to Jesus, and in his mercy, he heals them. But then a crazy thing happens: only one of them actually slows down long enough to return to offer gratitude, prompting a well-known reply from Jesus: “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” (verse 17)

Ouch. My whole life, I’ve read this story and thought to myself: be the one good, grateful leper, not one of the nine bad ones. But what if there is more to it than that? Here are six insights about the ten lepers and gratitude that just might slow you down and change your life.

1. I’m All Ten Lepers

 Most people tend to boil life down to two options. Good or bad. Nice or mean. Grateful or ungrateful. Yes, sometimes life is this simple, but often, there is much more than just one thing going on within us. The “fools” repeatedly referenced in the book of Proverbs aren’t always the same person—that is, there isn’t just a fool who does everything wrong and a wise person who does everything right. Depending on the situation and my response, I can be wise, or I can be foolish. I am never always one or the other. I might be wise with money but foolish in relationships. Wise in how I deal with my boss, but foolish in how I deal with my child. Solomon himself was wise in many ways yet foolish in many others.

In the same way, I don’t have to interpret the main takeaway of the biblical narrative of the ten lepers as merely a black-and-white cautionary tale about one good guy and nine bad guys. Truth is, I’ve acted like all ten guys at some point in my life. More clearly stated: for all that God does in my life to answer prayer and show up for me, nine times out of ten, I don’t slow down and truly return to Christ to say thank you.

I doubt the other nine guys didn’t return because they weren’t feeling grateful. They probably just got caught up in the speed of life, including the new miraculous blessing of being leprosy-free. Feeling relieved and returning to give gratitude are two different things. Gratitude forces us to pause and examine God’s work in our lives, not just benefit from it as we keep moving forward. The fast speed of life makes gratitude difficult, but the slower speed of gratitude makes life in Christ real, evident, and fulfilling. Gratitude slows us down to the speed of real life—life that is eternal—because it requires us to examine what God actually does for us.

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