Benefits Of Being Thankful

Benefits Of Being Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful and reflect on the blessings we have in life. There are benefits to being thankful, both physically and spiritually.

PHYSICAL BENEFITS

I recently read an NPR health article on the health benefits of being grateful. This article refers to a clinical  study conducted, of 186 men and women,  average age of 66.   A questionnaire was used to determine correlations between how grateful they were and quality of health. The results were fascinating:

 “Research shows that feeling grateful doesn’t just make you feel good. It also helps — literally helps — the heart.A positive mental attitude is good for your heart. It fends off depression, stress and anxiety, which can increase the risk of heart disease, says Paul Mills, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

It turned out the more grateful people were, the healthier they were. “They had less depressed mood, slept better and had more energy,” says Mills.

And when Mills did blood tests to measure inflammation, the body’s natural response to injury, or plaque buildup in the arteries, he found lower levels among those who were grateful — an indication of better heart health.” 

This same researcher did a small follow-up study involving 40 people. Half of the people kept daily journals, writing 2 or 3 things they were grateful for that day. After 2 months the results confirmed his previous research:

After two months, Mills retested all 40 patients and found health benefits for the patients who wrote in their journals. Inflammation levels were reduced, and heart rhythm improved. And when he compared their heart disease risk before and after journal writing, there was a decrease in risk after two months of writing in their journals. NPR Article :Gratitude Is Good For The Soul and Helps The Heart Too

SPIRITUAL BENEFITS

I find it fascinating when I think of the fact that God new the benefits of being thankful, and inspired the writers of scripture challenges and commands regarding thankfulness. Our modern science and research is now discovering new things about thankfulness, when this wisdom has been at out fingertips for hundreds and thousands of years in the scriptures.

Psalms 118:1 (HCSB) Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.

Colossians 3:17 (HCSB) And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:15 (HCSB) And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful.

One of the spiritual benefits  of being thankful, is peace in our hearts, as Colossians 3:15 states. So I challenge you to be thankful this thanksgiving season, it’s good for you. Be well, stay healthy, and be thankful.