Gratitude: The Sin-Busting Silver Bullet

“Kill sin, or it will be killing you.” Puritan John Owen issued this famous warning in his book, The Mortification of Sin. In this one tight sentence Owen tells us several things: sin is deadly, vulnerable, not neutral, bent on your destruction, and requires intentional effort to be killed. 

And let’s face it: sometimes that effort seems like too steep a hill to climb. We’d much rather treat sin like I do ants that get into my house. I buy some poison, put it under a shelf, and forget about it (until they start coming in again). But sin doesn’t work like that. We have to act more like bounty hunters or snipers who intentionally, methodically, and expertly track down and terminate their quarry. 

I don’t want to make light of this subject, nor do I want to over-simplify it, but what if there were a simple habit we could employ that would nuke the sin in our lives? It’s a habit so simple that we start teaching it to our children, in many cases, before they can even speak. 

I’m talking, of course, about the discipline of gratitude. The simple act of thanksgiving serves as a silver bullet that can take on any sin issue in your life. But don’t take my word for it. Instead, check out what Paul says in Ephesians 5: 

But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. (Ephesians 5:3–4)

Paul is dealing with some pretty major sins in the Ephesian church: immorality, greed, and coarse language. And what does he say ought to replace them? Gratitude. Surely there should be a twelve-step plan in there, or a Bible-reading schedule or fasting regimen. While those things may have their place, Paul gives them gratitude.

Gratitude Fights Idolatry 

“There’s a bat in here.” 

Those are not words that I ever want to hear in my bedroom, but I particularly don’t want to hear them in the middle of the night. That’s exactly what happened a few weeks ago when my husband awakened me from a peaceful sleep. As a bat flitted around my bedroom and I hid under the covers, my gallant husband rushed to the basement to grab his trusty tennis racket (aka The Batslayer). 

When he returned, he made short work of the winged infiltrator, and somehow, we both went back to sleep. Bat dead, problem solved. Right? Not so much. As my husband pointed out, we (okay, he) had to figure out where the bats were getting in. Otherwise, we would inevitably have another nighttime visitor. 

Sin is a lot like that. We “kill” a presenting sin without ever looking for the crevice that allowed it to crawl into our lives. For instance, I might realize that I need to clamp down on the content of books I’m reading and movies I’m watching. So I throw away the romance novels and turn off movies that get too spicy. That’s good. However, if I don’t find out where my sinful desires came from—if I don’t track down the crevice through which they crawled into my heart—I’ll just replace them with other sins. 

I’ve written other articles about the idols of our hearts (comfort, control, and approval), so I won’t belabor the point here. However, you must understand that your sins come from idolatry. You never sin without exalting something in your heart above God Himself. In the case of the steamy books and movies, perhaps that idol is comfort and pleasure. Without dealing with the idol, you’ll find other, perhaps more socially acceptable, ways to indulge it. 

One way to put the idol to death, once you’ve found it, is to give thanks. It is impossible to actively give thanks to the Giver of a good gift and simultaneously commit the sin of idolatry. 

Imagine if the Israelites had done this in the wilderness. Had they remembered and thanked God for the good things He had done for them, they wouldn’t have panicked about Moses’ prolonged absence from Mount Sinai. If Aaron had led them in a worship service in which they focused on the many wonders Yahweh had performed on their behalf instead of indulging their cry for an Egyptian-esque idol, many lives would have been spared. Had David thanked God for his wife (wives) and family that day on the rooftop, he never would have summoned Bathsheba to his chambers. 

Gratitude fights against our idols, but that’s not all it does. 

Gratitude Focuses Our Hearts on the Giver 

I’m hardly an expert marksman, but on the occasions when I’ve shot a bow or gun, I’ve spent 99.9 percent of the time sighting in on the target and the other 0.1 percent pulling the trigger or releasing the string. I’m sure on many of those occasions I failed to hit my target anyway, but I’m convinced that I never would have hit one without looking through the sights or scope. In the same way, we must make sure that our gratitude is aimed at the right target. 

James 1:17 reminds us that every good gift we have ever received or will ever receive comes from a singular source: God the Father. Therefore, while it’s certainly appropriate to express gratitude horizontally as well, it must always ultimately be pointed upward. 

Just as in shooting sports, you can’t aim your weapon without using your eyes. When gratitude is aimed at God, our gaze will inevitably follow. Sin, by its very nature, is selfish, and the deceiver knows that if he’s able to turn our gaze inward, he’s got us. We’ll start hoarding, idolizing, coveting, and stealing to amass all the pleasure, approval, and control that we can get our hands on. 

However, the miracle happens when we stop looking in and start looking up. Suddenly, our hands open and release the idols to which we were clinging only seconds earlier. Now we see the greater, truer, more magnificent gift—the Giver Himself. 

I love Psalm 103, the great song of thanksgiving in which we speak to ourselves: “My soul, bless the LORD.” The entire psalm is a call to thankfulness for every benefit that we have received. But as you read through the psalm, what begins as a list of blessings (redemption, forgiveness) becomes a catalog of God’s attributes: justice, righteousness, compassion, eternality, sovereignty, longsuffering, and grace. 

I dare you to meditate on Psalm 103 and try to covet your neighbor’s house at the same time. It simply can’t be done. Gratitude refocuses your heart on the Giver of good gifts. As you meditate, you’ll realize that God has been so good to you, you don’t need another thing. Which leads to the final way that thanksgiving kills our sin.

Gratitude Fosters Contentment 

As you choose gratitude, your eyes turn toward the gracious Giver of every good gift, and your hands release the idols to which they so desperately cling. Something supernatural begins to happen in your heart. Where you once craved a hit of your favorite idol, the fruit of contentment begins to grow. 

Of course, as with any fruit, it takes time for the seed to bud and the fruit to blossom. I’m not talking about one-and-done thanksgiving (say, before a big meal on the fourth Thursday of November). No, I’m talking about cultivating a lifestyle of gratitude. As we do that, focusing each day on the good gifts we’ve received—even in the middle of a dark valley—the sins of worry, greed, immorality, covetousness, and idolatry will wither, and the glorious fruit of contentment will flourish. 

So, are you ready to put sin to death in your life? Begin with gratitude. Here are a few strategies to get you started: 

1. Write down three things every day that you’re thankful for. 
2. Take five minutes of your prayer time to simply give thanks. 
3. Send thank-you notes (yes, on paper!) to people who bless you.
4. Verbalize your gratitude in your home. Don’t let simple tasks go unthanked. 
5. Take a walk around your neighborhood, praying as you go. But instead of asking God for things, take the time to thank Him. When you run out of things, start looking around.