Written by Ben Griffin, LINC's CEO

There is a crucial leadership skill that is often overlooked. Gratitude. You can have great business acumen, skill and vision but leaders who don’t cultivate the practice of gratitude, struggle. But maybe not in the way that you think.

A leader without gratitude may find tremendous success, at least by the numbers. But, where they will most certainly struggle is in having joy and contentment in their achievements. There is one thing that the poorest person on the planet can have that the most successful may never find, contentment. And cultivating gratitude is a crucial component of a life of contentment.

Here are three truths to help leaders cultivate an unshakable gratitude.

1. Contentment not based on your circumstances

Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him (Christ) who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:11-13

This verse wins the award for “most taken out of context Bible verse”. So many use it to say, I can do anything I put my mind to because of Jesus.

But this passage is not about achievement it is about contentment. Paul is saying that no matter what happens to me, no matter what is thrown at me, I know the secret of being content. I can handle anything this world sends my way because of Jesus.

Reading in context Paul says that he has faced both the test of adversity and the test of prosperity and he knows the secret of contentment in both circumstances.

Now, if you’re like me, your saying Lord, if you are going to test me, please test me with the test of prosperity. Bring that test on.

But I will tell you. The test of adversity is easier than the test of prosperity.

Because with the test of adversity you know that you are completely dependent on God because He is all you have.

The test of prosperity is more challenging because we are tempted to think that we don’t need God.

Paul is sharing, through the lens of his personal experience, that he has passed both tests. He has experienced prosperity, and did not find contentment in material gain,accolades or achievement. Through both prosperity and adversity, he found contentment in Jesus.

Because we know Jesus we, like Paul, always have a reason to be thankful. Praise God that contentment does not come through circumstances, but through Jesus!

2. A good soooo good that it outweighs every bad

We live in the most prosperous country in the history of the world, we have greater comforts than could even by imagined by people 200 years ago. You would think that we would be the most grateful people. But, what we find over and over again is the opposite

We find reasons to complain when there are thousands of reasons to be thankful. Let’s flip that switch. What does it look like to be thankful, even if there are so many reasons to complain.

Check out Acts 16 for an example of this. Paul and Silas are in prison. Not only that, they had been publicly humiliated, stripped of their clothing, mocked by a mob of people and beaten with rods.

Then they were put in the inner part of the prison where their feet were shackled. This was, at the least, completely unfair treatment and much more like severe abuse.

When I am inconvenienced even by little things I am so quick to complain. Yet, here they are in a worse situation than I can even imagine and guess what they are doing. Praying, singing songs and Praising God! They are having church!

We might ask, “How could they be doing that”

However, I’m pretty sure that if we could interview them today, and ask them what they were thinking in that moment, their response would be the exact opposite.

“How could we not be doing that?”

They had something so good in Jesus that nothing, not even unjust prison and being beaten could take their joy away.

When you truly get the fullness of who God is, envision His power and presence it is like a superpower.

You know how sometimes a bad thing overwhelms everything good. Well, once in a while there is a good thing that is SOOOO good that it makes you impervious to anything bad. That is what Paul and Silas had. A super power of joy, peace and hope that nothing could take away.

If Paul and Silas can find reasons to be thankful and praise God in prison, how much more should we be able to do so!

3. Dependance on the One Who can handle it all

Have you ever heard the phrase that God won’t give you more than you can handle. It isn’t true. Life hands more than we can handle every, single, day. We are frail humans. Everyday we encounter things that are beyond our ability to handle.

But there is a better truth to share. One I first heard preached by our Milwaukee City Director, Dan Hudson. Here it is: God will not give you more than He can handle. And that is something to be thankful for!

The Gospel, God’s good news, is not about how much we can handle or do. It is about how Jesus has delivered us from death to life. He has literally done for us what we can not do for ourselves.

At LINC, we are in the business of empowering grassroots leaders in every community to bring the good news of Jesus with unshakable joy and gratitude. If we can help you do the same, please reach out.