November 26, 2025 • 24 mins
Episode Summary:
Leading a business or ministry often feels heavy. The human brain is wired for survival, meaning we default to detecting threats rather than seeing blessings. In this episode, Jim dives into why gratitude isn't just a mood—it is a spiritual safeguard and a leadership strategy.
Jim breaks down the science of the "negativity bias," the theology of thanksgiving as warfare, and the four major pressures every leader faces that gratitude can disarm. If you are struggling with anxiety, feeling like you haven't "done enough," or carrying the crushing weight of outcomes, this episode offers the shift from an "Owner" mindset to a "Steward" mindset. Learn how to reframe your daily grind, guard your heart against entitlement, and build a memory bank of God’s faithfulness.
Key Takeaways:
- Velcro for Negativity, Teflon for Positivity: Our brains naturally hold onto negative experiences and let positive ones slip away. Gratitude requires intentional practice to rewire this default setting.
- Obedience, Not Emotion: We often think we need to feel grateful to be grateful. Biblical gratitude is an act of obedience that aligns us with God's will, regardless of our current mood.
- The Owner vs. Steward Shift: This is the cure for entrepreneurial anxiety. Owners carry the weight of the outcome; Stewards only carry the weight of obedience. When you realize you are the manager, not the owner, the pressure lifts.
- Disarming Entitlement: Leaders don't usually lose their joy from exhaustion; they lose it from entitlement. Gratitude reminds us that everything—our gifts, our calling, our wealth—is received, not manufactured.
- The Gap vs. The Gain: Anxiety looks at the gap ahead and says it's too big. Gratitude looks at the ground covered and sees how far God has already brought you.
Favorite Quotes:
- "Our brain is the Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for the positive ones." (Rick Hanson quote)
- "Gratitude is obedience, not emotion."
- "You cannot be anxious and grateful at the same time."
- "Owners carry the weight of the outcome. Stewards... only carry the weight of obedience."
- "Gratitude builds, where comparison steals."
- "A grateful heart sees people as stewardship, not stepping stones."
Scripture References:
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Give thanks in all circumstances; this is God's will.)
- Philippians 4:6-7 (Pray about everything, thank Him, and His peace will guard your heart.)
- Psalm 46:10 (Be still and know that I am God.)
- Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (Beware lest you say... my power has gotten me this wealth.)
- 1 Corinthians 4:7 (What do you have that you did not receive?)
- Psalm 103:1-5 (Forget not all His benefits.)
Action Steps & Reflection Questions:
- The Daily Reframe: Instead of asking "What did I produce today?", ask "What did God provide today?" (energy, strategy, wisdom).
- The Memory Bank: Start a running record of answered prayers and moments of provision. When you hit a low valley, read the record to remind yourself of His faithfulness.
- The People Blessing: Once this week, call or text someone and thank them for who they are, not just for what they do for you.
Resources:
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Gratitude shifts your eyesfrom scarcity to God's provision.
And that's what we're going totalk about on the show today.
(00:29):
This is the Unshakable.
Hey, friends, welcome to theUnshakable Life podcast.
I am so grateful that you'rehere today.
And if you heard from theintro, we're actually going to be
talking about gratitude inlight of Thanksgiving.
But regardless of when youactually hear this episode, gratitude
is something that should beevery day, not once a year.
(00:52):
And so in today's episode,we're going to unlock, or at least
dive deep into howthankfulness shapes the way to build,
lead, and live.
And with that being said,let's dive in.
We live in a world that isheavy, is uncertain.
And if you are a leader, acreator, an entrepreneur, then you
(01:12):
understand that the decisionsyou make have a weight to them, that
the thing you're buildingdoesn't necessarily equate to success,
but it will equate touncertainty until you reach success.
And because we live in theserealities, these constantly shifting
places of I am just unsure orI feel heavy in the weight of this,
(01:34):
it's hard to show gratitudebecause, quite frankly, our brains
are wired to maintain thenegativity while reflecting the positive.
I mean, there was a famousquote by Rick, Rick Hansen, who said
that it says our brain is theVelcro for negative experiences,
but Teflon for the positive ones.
(01:55):
And because our brains arebuilt for negative bias, gratitude
requires intentional practice.
So, in other words, you haveto make the decision to be grateful.
It's not a feeling.
It's not something that wejust work up.
We decide, and we'reintentional, to be gratitude, to
be grateful.
(02:16):
And when we look at the Bible,right, because this is a Christian
podcast, so we do talk aboutthe Bible.
When we look at the Bible, weunderstand that biblical gratitude
is not a mood, it's an act of obedience.
It really keeps us groundedand aligned to God.
In the middle of whateverassignment he has you on, it doesn't
matter what you're building,doesn't matter where God is taking
(02:38):
you.
We stay grounded through gratitude.
And the enemy wants you to obsess.
Now, for you guys who arenewer Christians, we understand that
the Bible talks, that there isan enemy, and that enemy is always
out in a spiritual warfaretrying to take the saints away from
the focus on God.
And with that, you got tounderstand that he wants us, the
(03:00):
enemy, to obsess over things.
And one of those things is toobsess over how far we have left
to grow, how far we have to goinstead of how far we've come.
And I bring this up becausegratitude forces you to turn around
and look behind you and seehow, how far God has brought you
(03:23):
from.
While your anxious thoughtslooks ahead and decides the gap may
be too big for you to cross.
And, and there's parts of us,because we are biased, negative,
is that we think that hisgrace is not sufficient enough to
get us through the gap, but wedon't realize because how far we've
come.
And if the enemy can get youobsessing with what's ahead of you
(03:45):
and never looking at what'sbehind you.
Now remember, looking at yourpast is not a bad thing.
It's living there that becomesthe challenge.
But when we are obsessing overwhat we have to do, where we have
to go, the assignment threeyears from now, I need to build this,
that makes this, that does this.
And we don't look at a minuteago and say, or even whatever and
(04:07):
say God loud, look how faryou've brought me.
One year ago I was broke andnot doing anything.
And today I'm actually doingsomething I love and I'm making money
of it from it.
And so we have to make sure,you and I, if we're going to operate
in gratitude, that we'relooking at where God is taking us.
And we're constantly remindingourselves that God has been with
(04:30):
us since the beginning andthat even though we're not where
we want to be, we're a lotfurther than we think.
And if you're somebody todayon the show that you've ever felt
I'm not good enough, I've notdone enough, it's because you've
looked to your, to the gap andyou've, you've obsessed with the
gap so much that you'relooking at a future version of yourself
that doesn't exist.
(04:51):
Or you're comparing yourselfto somebody who's an expert in your
field and you're saying, Ishould be doing this, but if you
just take a step back andwe're going to say, hey, let me,
let me just be grateful oroperate in gratitude.
That deep heart connectionthat says wow, and that appreciation
that says, wow, look at allthat I've accomplished.
(05:13):
I never thought I would be here.
And that is where we startgetting over or start fighting that
never good enough phase.
And this is why it matters.
This is why for Christianemerging leaders and entrepreneurs
and content creators, why it matters.
Because gratitude isobedience, not emotion.
(05:33):
I don't know where we'vegotten this thing in Christianity
where if we feel something, itmust be true, or if we don't feel
something, then we didn't havean experience with God.
And that's not what the Bibleteaches us.
The reality is, is that a lotof what we do comes from knowing
and obeying.
And emotion comes later.
(05:54):
In 1st Thessalonians 5, 18, itsays, Give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is the will of Godin, in Jesus Christ for you.
And we don't have to wait toobey, but we.
We just obey and we're grateful.
We're giving thanks in all circumstances.
Now, there are two things inthis of why it's important with the
obedience and not why it's not.
(06:14):
Obedience, not emotion isnumber one.
It says, give thanks, bethankful in all situations.
Not when you're on the top ofthe mountain, not when you're doing
this, all these great things,and not when you're in the valley
where you're fighting throughall these things.
But at all times, it's not oneor the other.
It's all times, be grateful,give thanks.
For this is the will of God.
(06:35):
And so if you're somebody whostruggles, what is God's will?
For me, what does God want meto do?
Here's one thing.
This is why reading the Bibleis so much more important than what
you feel about the Bible.
It's because it says it right here.
This is the will of God inChrist Jesus for you to be good,
to give thanks in allsituations, in all circumstances.
(06:55):
It says it right there.
You want to know the will ofGod, there's the will of God.
And gratitude plays afoundational, pivotal role in this
because it's give thanks inall situations because as we spoke
before of the importance ofit, it's.
It's a place of remembrance.
It's a place that we're.
We're not going to forget allthe benefits God has done.
(07:16):
We're not going to forget allthe things that God has brought us
through.
Now, as people, we tend to forget.
I mean, in the Old Testament,we see this a lot.
The people of God forgot a lot.
But leadership as a leader, inwhatever area you're leading, we
can move so fast that weforget that God is our leader.
And we can move so fast indoing whatever we're trying to do
(07:38):
and accomplish whatever we'retrying to accomplish that we try
to do it without God.
And we call it God.
And this is where we get the challenge.
And gratitude links us back tothe process God has us on.
You know, you can go readPsalm 103:1 through 5.
And it really kind of entersinto that.
But it just comes to thisplace of God is with us.
(07:59):
God is walking with us.
And we can't begin to move sofast because of our impatience that
we lose God or getdisconnected from God.
Remember, if gratitude isobedience, gratitude is also in the
remembrance.
So we have to take times of remembering.
And then it comes intogratitude as spiritual warfare, spiritual
(08:20):
protection.
And you know, I like givingyou guys scripture.
So Philippians 4, 6 and 7,don't worry about anything.
Now, I know that's the hardestthing for us ever to say, don't worry
about anything.
Other versions say, don't beanxious, so don't be.
Don't worry.
Instead, pray about everything.
I mean, right there alone,it's a protection because here's
why it's.
(08:40):
The rest of this verse says,tell God what you need, honestly,
forthright, tell him what youneed and thank him for all that he
has done.
Then you know, you willexperience the peace that passes
all understanding, because hispeace will guard your hearts and
minds.
So it becomes a protectiveshield in spiritual warfare, because
gratitude, giving thanks inall situations.
(09:03):
And we're praying through it,praying about everything, asking
God to intervene oneverything, even the biggest to the
smallest, that the peace ofGod will guard our hearts and our
minds.
And if you go back toProverbs, we hear, guard your heart
with all diligence, for out ofit flows the issues of life.
So if, if we understand thisgiving thanks get, we get the peace
(09:26):
of God.
Our heart and mind are guarded.
You see how that works in andwhy gratitude can be spiritual warfare.
So let's switch gears a littlebit and talk about four pressures
that every leader faces.
And it doesn't matter whereyou are leading, it doesn't matter
if you're leading a business,leading your house, leading a ministry,
wherever you're leading, thereare pressures that we face.
We're going to talk about fourof them.
We're going to do it quick,but we're going to also talk about
(09:47):
how this, how gratitudedisarms them.
And the first pressure isconfusing your calling with your
identity.
And so I find that this issomething in the, in the coaching
world in, in most places thatwe attach our identity to what we
do, that the more we canproduce, the better we feel about
ourselves.
The more people like us or seeus have value, the better we feel
(10:11):
that this is an identity lie.
Because you are inherently notsomeone who is, who is going to get
value from what you do youhave inherent value in who you are?
And out of who you are inChrist, you produce.
And so your identity, yourgifts, your calling are all received
from God, not manufactured.
(10:32):
There's nothing you're goingto do to manufacture this stuff.
And what happens is, is whenwe're grateful, it dismantles the
illusion of self reliance andself production.
And so we start to divorceourselves from the results, understanding
that we do have to live in excellence.
We do want to producesomething of value, of great excellence,
but we are not tied to our identity.
(10:54):
So if the product fails, weare not a failure.
You can go to 4th 1stCorinthians 4, 7 to kind of look
at that.
And Paul even kind of says, hesays, everything you received you
got from God.
So why are you boasting?
You know, that's really whatit comes down to.
The second pressure that weface is the cognitive load.
Like when your mind isoverstimulated or there's so much
on your brain.
(11:15):
The struggle with this is thatan anxious mind really struggles
to recognize as God's presence.
Like when you live in theanxiety of your mind, you are so
full of fear.
Now, we do want to recognizethat some anxiety is due to some
illnesses and some life events.
We want to recognize that andnot ever diminish that.
We also have to in, inconjunction with that, understand
(11:37):
that when we live in thatanxiety, even though we may experience
it, if you're not constantlyfighting against it, you know, dismantling
it, an anxious mind willstruggle to recognize God.
I mean, even Psalm 46:10 talksabout be still and know that I'm
God.
Stillness.
Anxiety is the antithesis of stillness.
There is a constant strivingto be safe when you're anxious, where
(12:00):
stillness says, you are safe,so rest in God.
And you know, we can usegratitude to help return us to the
heart of God.
We can use the.
Because I heard this one time,and I think this was a popular psychologist
who said this, and I'll haveto look up who this was, but he said,
you cannot be anxious andgrateful at the same time.
I thought that was anincredible way to look at it.
(12:22):
So as you enter into anxietyand we all face it, we all face wary,
we all face anxiety as youenter into it.
There are split second choicesthat we can train our brains, you
know, give every thoughtcaptive to Jesus, but we can train
ourselves to in that split second.
Can I, can I quickly move overto gratitude?
Or am I still going into theanxious and so.
(12:44):
And it's going to take A lotof time, it's messy, but the Holy
Spirit is with us so we canget through it.
But it does break thecognitive load and brings us into
a heart of gratitude thatconnects us and grounds us to what
God is doing, not thefalseness of what anxiety is telling
us, is what's wrong.
So this brings us into pressure.
Three entitlement and bitterness.
And we know in the way cultureis, there is so much entitledness
(13:07):
and so much bitterness happening.
And here's the thing.
As leaders, we lose joy notfrom exhaustion, but from entitlement,
from pride, from.
From the bitterness.
It steals our joy.
And there's so many people outthere in the Christian entrepreneur
space that want to say, hey,God, you know, Deuteronomy 8:18,
(13:29):
God has given us the ability to.
To create wealth.
And is that true?
Absolutely.
But we run into an inherent problem.
8:17 is connected to 8:18.
And we.
And there's so many peoplethat ignore 8:17 to just focus on
the promise.
But it's a conjunction to 8:17.
What that says is, beware lestyou say in your heart, my power and
(13:50):
the might of my hand havegotten me this wealth.
And then it conjuncts into,remember, it is God who helps you
or gives you the power tobuild wealth, not you.
The two have to go together.
And we've got to stop takingscripture out of context, because
here's what it is.
The entitlement and bitternessstarts with the whole first part
(14:10):
of this.
Beware, lest your heart said.
When our heart begins to say,my power, my.
My right hand, my ability, andwe leave God out of it, then we try
to, you know, glory Jack andmake that all about us.
And we leave him everywhere else.
And then we wonder why Goddoesn't show up.
You know, the second thoughtor a truth about this is it confuses
(14:33):
God's provision with personal achievement.
I did this.
This was all me.
When in reality, we're alwaysconstantly partnering with God and
through His Holy Spirit toaccomplish anything.
I love how Paul says.
He says I can do nothing apartfrom Christ.
I think that's how ourbusiness should be.
That's how our life should be.
That's how your creativeendeavor should be.
(14:55):
I cannot do this without Christ.
And every morning and everyopportunity, I'm going to thank God
for being with me in the midstof this, whether it be my finances,
whether it be my health, my relationship.
I thank God for where Icurrently am, and I thank him for
where he's bringing me to.
And you know, the last truthabout the entitlement is it steals
our joy because joy comes fromreceiving, but entitlement comes
(15:19):
from grasping.
And if you're constantlygrasping, you're not going to be
receiving because you're.
You're the person trying toget, get, get, get, get, and never
giving.
And there's no reciprocal relationship.
So there's no joy.
And if there's no joy, there'sno connection.
If there's no joy, there's no strength.
If there's no joy, there's alot of things missing, and therefore
(15:39):
it steals everything you'retrying to build.
And because here's some way,here's a way to think about it, here's
a.
Here's an interesting way tothink about it.
Owners.
You may be a business owner,you may be, you know, in charge of
a ministry, but if you havethe owner's mentality, owners carry
the weight of the outcome.
Stewards, which we are calledstewardship, only carry the weight
(16:00):
of obedience.
Hear that one more time.
If you have an owner mindset,you are carrying the entire weight
of the outcome.
If you have a steward mindset,you are just being obedient to each
step.
And you're leaving God withthe ability to do only what God can
do because he is in charge ofthe outcome, not you.
So we are a branch manager.
(16:22):
We are not the owner.
And the pressure, if we put iton us as owners, then we become God
of our business.
This is where we have to breakanxiety and understand that I don't
own my business.
If my business makes a milliondollars, thank you, Jesus.
If my business made 500 bucks,thank you, Jesus.
If my business makes $0, thankyou, Jesus.
(16:43):
My only step is to take thenext step and say, God, where do
you want me?
Oh, you want me to start a podcast?
All right, let me do this.
And we'll just step this eachway with you to see where it goes.
And I'm going to trust youthat you have the financial provision
for me to take care ofeverything that needs to be taken
care of in.
Even if I don't know whereit's coming from.
(17:05):
Because you're the owner, I'mthe steward.
So if I'm going to stewardthis properly, I need your resources.
So thank you, Jesus.
And when we operate in theseplaces of gratitude, you see, we're
connected in a proper biblical way.
And our business grows,ministry grows, relationship grows,
health grows, all of thatgrows because we're stewards, not
(17:29):
owners.
And the last pressure, itgoes, we lose sight of people.
Now, this is near and dear toMy heart because I am 100% people
person.
Because here's what weunderstand is that a grateful heart
sees people as stewardship,not stepping stones.
I was on a podcast earliertoday and I thought this was, this
was great.
They had asked me a questionabout retreats and leaders and retreats.
(17:51):
And one of the things was, waswhat was one thing you had would
say to somebody about theretreat that would make the retreat
better.
And I said if they're a leaderleading this treat retreat, then
they have to make it about theother person.
Because if we make it aboutus, then it becomes about us and
everybody else loses out.
But if we make it about themas leaders, we make it about them
(18:11):
and their growth and theirpushing through and them getting
all that God wants, then wealso gain because we're in a no lose
situation where nobody losesbecause I'm giving and serving and
they're giving and serving back.
And it becomes a reciprocalrelationship where we're giving thanks
to God because it is justabout serving and who you serve will
(18:33):
ultimately come back and fillyour cup up.
So we need to not lose sightof people, but to make people the
focus.
Because God made people the focus.
And with that all kind ofbeing said, I do want to make sure
that we, we really bring intothe, the practical ways because as
we're building spiritualauthority, as we're building, you
know, all this places ofgratitude, there are some practical
(18:55):
things we can do as leaders togrow our gratitude.
Number one, I would highlysuggest that you have a daily reframe.
We're going to stop askingwhat did I produce?
What did I accomplish?
And we're going to startasking what did God provide today?
Did God provide you energy,strategy, wisdom, rest?
(19:16):
Let's take our gratitude andfocus in on what God's doing in the
midst of it.
And as we evaluate what we'redoing in light of that, we can see
where we can change, where wecan increase what wisdom we can use.
But make sure you're dailyreframing it.
Where did God show up?
The second thing is do aweekly review, right?
I think this is actually aninteresting, I challenge you to do
(19:38):
it like for 7 to 14 days,track what drains you and then track
also what gave you life.
Give God thanks for thepatterns he's showing you.
Because if you're trying togrow your business, there's drainers
and there's, there's fillers,Remove drainer, add fillers.
And so if we do that, we canthank God for revealing what are,
(20:00):
what is taking our or stealingour energy and time.
And we can thank them for getplacing things in there that is giving
that time and energy back.
Another thing, and I've gotlike two more.
Another thing is, is I wouldput in a memory bank.
And now in the Old Testamentit was really often said, you know,
do stones of memory becausethese stones of memory would be remembrances
(20:20):
for generations to come.
And because you and I forgetoften because you and I are totally
out there some days it is sogreat to get a journal of some sort
and write down answeredprayers, write down where you saw
God, write down what provisionhe gave you, write down what wisdom
he gave you.
Write down everything you sawGod come through in that day and
(20:42):
throughout.
Take a running record for fromnow till the day you go to meet him.
And whenever you're in yourlowest portions, whenever you're
in your lowest places, go backand say, hey, this is where God moved
here.
I know he's going to movehere, right?
And just keep doing that everytime you feel low or even when you
feel high, like, like you'reexcited, you're joyful.
(21:04):
Let's celebrate and praise bygo looking what God done, God did.
And the last thing is have apeople blessing time.
Now this is not something thatyou're just going to go and, and
give money away to people,although that could be a thing and
that's easy.
This is going to be somewhereonce a week where you call somebody
up and you intentionally startto encourage them, pray for them
(21:25):
for who they are, not whatthey did.
You, you can sit there andsay, I love that you're this type
of person and you show up inthis way for me.
Thank you so much.
Do that with one person a week.
I promise you your joy willcome, really coming, flying back
in.
And because gratitude buildswhere comparison steals, let that
sink in your heart.
(21:45):
And if.
Let me just end with this isyour assignment is a real part of
your life, the pressures in itare real.
But so is gratitude and so isGod's grace.
And if you're constantly in aplace where you're, where you're
yearning and pushing intoplaces of gratitude, places of I'm
going to give thanks to God inwhatever situation because that's
what he tells me to do.
(22:06):
You're going to find that yoursoul is anchored.
And no matter what storm yougo through, you will always be placed
on the rock because you are anchored.
And the glue of that anchoringis gratitude.
So let.
We're not going to make lightof your situation.
We're not going to make lightof your calling.
We're not going to make lightof your trauma.
We're going to focus onthanking God through it.
(22:28):
Not that we that not that weexperienced it, but that it didn't
destroy us.
Not that we have to deal withit, but that God is healing us through
it.
And all of those things arethings that we can practice for gratitude.
So I want you to go ahead andchoose one area of gratitude to practice
(22:49):
this week and just practice itfor the next seven days.
And then if you if you want,hit me up leadwithjim.com There's
a forward slash ask.
Send me a note or a voicemail.
Let me know how that worked out.
But with all that being said,I'll see you on the next episode.
Thank you for spending thistime with me on the Unshakable Life
podcast.
(23:09):
My prayer is that today'sconversation helps you to build resilience,
reclaim peace, and step withcourage into your God given calling.
If this episode has encouragedyou, challenged you, or impacted
you in any way, could you dome a favor?
Share it with a friend, leavea review and hit the follow so you
don't miss what's next.
(23:30):
And if you want more tools andencouragement for your journey, head
over to leadwithjim.com you'llfind resources to help you grow as
a healthy, authentic Christianleader, entrepreneur and creator.
And until next time, rememberyour foundation is Christ, your calling
is unshakable, and your lifecan make eternal impact.
(23:56):
Action no Strife.
Break free from the burnout.
Find your true north with your God.
Jim Burgoon Stepping forward.
This is the Unshakable life.
Gratitude shifts your eyesfrom scarcity to God's provision.
And that's what we're going totalk about on the show today.
(00:29):
This is the Unshakable.
Hey, friends, welcome to theUnshakable Life podcast.
I am so grateful that you'rehere today.
And if you heard from theintro, we're actually going to be
talking about gratitude inlight of Thanksgiving.
But regardless of when youactually hear this episode, gratitude
is something that should beevery day, not once a year.
(00:52):
And so in today's episode,we're going to unlock, or at least
dive deep into howthankfulness shapes the way to build,
lead, and live.
And with that being said,let's dive in.
We live in a world that isheavy, is uncertain.
And if you are a leader, acreator, an entrepreneur, then you
(01:12):
understand that the decisionsyou make have a weight to them, that
the thing you're buildingdoesn't necessarily equate to success,
but it will equate touncertainty until you reach success.
And because we live in theserealities, these constantly shifting
places of I am just unsure orI feel heavy in the weight of this,
(01:34):
it's hard to show gratitudebecause, quite frankly, our brains
are wired to maintain thenegativity while reflecting the positive.
I mean, there was a famousquote by Rick, Rick Hansen, who said
that it says our brain is theVelcro for negative experiences,
but Teflon for the positive ones.
(01:55):
And because our brains arebuilt for negative bias, gratitude
requires intentional practice.
So, in other words, you haveto make the decision to be grateful.
It's not a feeling.
It's not something that wejust work up.
We decide, and we'reintentional, to be gratitude, to
be grateful.
(02:16):
And when we look at the Bible,right, because this is a Christian
podcast, so we do talk aboutthe Bible.
When we look at the Bible, weunderstand that biblical gratitude
is not a mood, it's an act of obedience.
It really keeps us groundedand aligned to God.
In the middle of whateverassignment he has you on, it doesn't
matter what you're building,doesn't matter where God is taking
(02:38):
you.
We stay grounded through gratitude.
And the enemy wants you to obsess.
Now, for you guys who arenewer Christians, we understand that
the Bible talks, that there isan enemy, and that enemy is always
out in a spiritual warfaretrying to take the saints away from
the focus on God.
And with that, you got tounderstand that he wants us, the
(03:00):
enemy, to obsess over things.
And one of those things is toobsess over how far we have left
to grow, how far we have to goinstead of how far we've come.
And I bring this up becausegratitude forces you to turn around
and look behind you and seehow, how far God has brought you
(03:23):
from.
While your anxious thoughtslooks ahead and decides the gap may
be too big for you to cross.
And, and there's parts of us,because we are biased, negative,
is that we think that hisgrace is not sufficient enough to
get us through the gap, but wedon't realize because how far we've
come.
And if the enemy can get youobsessing with what's ahead of you
(03:45):
and never looking at what'sbehind you.
Now remember, looking at yourpast is not a bad thing.
It's living there that becomesthe challenge.
But when we are obsessing overwhat we have to do, where we have
to go, the assignment threeyears from now, I need to build this,
that makes this, that does this.
And we don't look at a minuteago and say, or even whatever and
(04:07):
say God loud, look how faryou've brought me.
One year ago I was broke andnot doing anything.
And today I'm actually doingsomething I love and I'm making money
of it from it.
And so we have to make sure,you and I, if we're going to operate
in gratitude, that we'relooking at where God is taking us.
And we're constantly remindingourselves that God has been with
(04:30):
us since the beginning andthat even though we're not where
we want to be, we're a lotfurther than we think.
And if you're somebody todayon the show that you've ever felt
I'm not good enough, I've notdone enough, it's because you've
looked to your, to the gap andyou've, you've obsessed with the
gap so much that you'relooking at a future version of yourself
that doesn't exist.
(04:51):
Or you're comparing yourselfto somebody who's an expert in your
field and you're saying, Ishould be doing this, but if you
just take a step back andwe're going to say, hey, let me,
let me just be grateful oroperate in gratitude.
That deep heart connectionthat says wow, and that appreciation
that says, wow, look at allthat I've accomplished.
(05:13):
I never thought I would be here.
And that is where we startgetting over or start fighting that
never good enough phase.
And this is why it matters.
This is why for Christianemerging leaders and entrepreneurs
and content creators, why it matters.
Because gratitude isobedience, not emotion.
(05:33):
I don't know where we'vegotten this thing in Christianity
where if we feel something, itmust be true, or if we don't feel
something, then we didn't havean experience with God.
And that's not what the Bibleteaches us.
The reality is, is that a lotof what we do comes from knowing
and obeying.
And emotion comes later.
(05:54):
In 1st Thessalonians 5, 18, itsays, Give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is the will of Godin, in Jesus Christ for you.
And we don't have to wait toobey, but we.
We just obey and we're grateful.
We're giving thanks in all circumstances.
Now, there are two things inthis of why it's important with the
obedience and not why it's not.
(06:14):
Obedience, not emotion isnumber one.
It says, give thanks, bethankful in all situations.
Not when you're on the top ofthe mountain, not when you're doing
this, all these great things,and not when you're in the valley
where you're fighting throughall these things.
But at all times, it's not oneor the other.
It's all times, be grateful,give thanks.
For this is the will of God.
(06:35):
And so if you're somebody whostruggles, what is God's will?
For me, what does God want meto do?
Here's one thing.
This is why reading the Bibleis so much more important than what
you feel about the Bible.
It's because it says it right here.
This is the will of God inChrist Jesus for you to be good,
to give thanks in allsituations, in all circumstances.
(06:55):
It says it right there.
You want to know the will ofGod, there's the will of God.
And gratitude plays afoundational, pivotal role in this
because it's give thanks inall situations because as we spoke
before of the importance ofit, it's.
It's a place of remembrance.
It's a place that we're.
We're not going to forget allthe benefits God has done.
(07:16):
We're not going to forget allthe things that God has brought us
through.
Now, as people, we tend to forget.
I mean, in the Old Testament,we see this a lot.
The people of God forgot a lot.
But leadership as a leader, inwhatever area you're leading, we
can move so fast that weforget that God is our leader.
And we can move so fast indoing whatever we're trying to do
(07:38):
and accomplish whatever we'retrying to accomplish that we try
to do it without God.
And we call it God.
And this is where we get the challenge.
And gratitude links us back tothe process God has us on.
You know, you can go readPsalm 103:1 through 5.
And it really kind of entersinto that.
But it just comes to thisplace of God is with us.
(07:59):
God is walking with us.
And we can't begin to move sofast because of our impatience that
we lose God or getdisconnected from God.
Remember, if gratitude isobedience, gratitude is also in the
remembrance.
So we have to take times of remembering.
And then it comes intogratitude as spiritual warfare, spiritual
(08:20):
protection.
And you know, I like givingyou guys scripture.
So Philippians 4, 6 and 7,don't worry about anything.
Now, I know that's the hardestthing for us ever to say, don't worry
about anything.
Other versions say, don't beanxious, so don't be.
Don't worry.
Instead, pray about everything.
I mean, right there alone,it's a protection because here's
why it's.
(08:40):
The rest of this verse says,tell God what you need, honestly,
forthright, tell him what youneed and thank him for all that he
has done.
Then you know, you willexperience the peace that passes
all understanding, because hispeace will guard your hearts and
minds.
So it becomes a protectiveshield in spiritual warfare, because
gratitude, giving thanks inall situations.
(09:03):
And we're praying through it,praying about everything, asking
God to intervene oneverything, even the biggest to the
smallest, that the peace ofGod will guard our hearts and our
minds.
And if you go back toProverbs, we hear, guard your heart
with all diligence, for out ofit flows the issues of life.
So if, if we understand thisgiving thanks get, we get the peace
(09:26):
of God.
Our heart and mind are guarded.
You see how that works in andwhy gratitude can be spiritual warfare.
So let's switch gears a littlebit and talk about four pressures
that every leader faces.
And it doesn't matter whereyou are leading, it doesn't matter
if you're leading a business,leading your house, leading a ministry,
wherever you're leading, thereare pressures that we face.
We're going to talk about fourof them.
We're going to do it quick,but we're going to also talk about
(09:47):
how this, how gratitudedisarms them.
And the first pressure isconfusing your calling with your
identity.
And so I find that this issomething in the, in the coaching
world in, in most places thatwe attach our identity to what we
do, that the more we canproduce, the better we feel about
ourselves.
The more people like us or seeus have value, the better we feel
(10:11):
that this is an identity lie.
Because you are inherently notsomeone who is, who is going to get
value from what you do youhave inherent value in who you are?
And out of who you are inChrist, you produce.
And so your identity, yourgifts, your calling are all received
from God, not manufactured.
(10:32):
There's nothing you're goingto do to manufacture this stuff.
And what happens is, is whenwe're grateful, it dismantles the
illusion of self reliance andself production.
And so we start to divorceourselves from the results, understanding
that we do have to live in excellence.
We do want to producesomething of value, of great excellence,
but we are not tied to our identity.
(10:54):
So if the product fails, weare not a failure.
You can go to 4th 1stCorinthians 4, 7 to kind of look
at that.
And Paul even kind of says, hesays, everything you received you
got from God.
So why are you boasting?
You know, that's really whatit comes down to.
The second pressure that weface is the cognitive load.
Like when your mind isoverstimulated or there's so much
on your brain.
(11:15):
The struggle with this is thatan anxious mind really struggles
to recognize as God's presence.
Like when you live in theanxiety of your mind, you are so
full of fear.
Now, we do want to recognizethat some anxiety is due to some
illnesses and some life events.
We want to recognize that andnot ever diminish that.
We also have to in, inconjunction with that, understand
(11:37):
that when we live in thatanxiety, even though we may experience
it, if you're not constantlyfighting against it, you know, dismantling
it, an anxious mind willstruggle to recognize God.
I mean, even Psalm 46:10 talksabout be still and know that I'm
God.
Stillness.
Anxiety is the antithesis of stillness.
There is a constant strivingto be safe when you're anxious, where
(12:00):
stillness says, you are safe,so rest in God.
And you know, we can usegratitude to help return us to the
heart of God.
We can use the.
Because I heard this one time,and I think this was a popular psychologist
who said this, and I'll haveto look up who this was, but he said,
you cannot be anxious andgrateful at the same time.
I thought that was anincredible way to look at it.
(12:22):
So as you enter into anxietyand we all face it, we all face wary,
we all face anxiety as youenter into it.
There are split second choicesthat we can train our brains, you
know, give every thoughtcaptive to Jesus, but we can train
ourselves to in that split second.
Can I, can I quickly move overto gratitude?
Or am I still going into theanxious and so.
(12:44):
And it's going to take A lotof time, it's messy, but the Holy
Spirit is with us so we canget through it.
But it does break thecognitive load and brings us into
a heart of gratitude thatconnects us and grounds us to what
God is doing, not thefalseness of what anxiety is telling
us, is what's wrong.
So this brings us into pressure.
Three entitlement and bitterness.
And we know in the way cultureis, there is so much entitledness
(13:07):
and so much bitterness happening.
And here's the thing.
As leaders, we lose joy notfrom exhaustion, but from entitlement,
from pride, from.
From the bitterness.
It steals our joy.
And there's so many people outthere in the Christian entrepreneur
space that want to say, hey,God, you know, Deuteronomy 8:18,
(13:29):
God has given us the ability to.
To create wealth.
And is that true?
Absolutely.
But we run into an inherent problem.
8:17 is connected to 8:18.
And we.
And there's so many peoplethat ignore 8:17 to just focus on
the promise.
But it's a conjunction to 8:17.
What that says is, beware lestyou say in your heart, my power and
(13:50):
the might of my hand havegotten me this wealth.
And then it conjuncts into,remember, it is God who helps you
or gives you the power tobuild wealth, not you.
The two have to go together.
And we've got to stop takingscripture out of context, because
here's what it is.
The entitlement and bitternessstarts with the whole first part
(14:10):
of this.
Beware, lest your heart said.
When our heart begins to say,my power, my.
My right hand, my ability, andwe leave God out of it, then we try
to, you know, glory Jack andmake that all about us.
And we leave him everywhere else.
And then we wonder why Goddoesn't show up.
You know, the second thoughtor a truth about this is it confuses
(14:33):
God's provision with personal achievement.
I did this.
This was all me.
When in reality, we're alwaysconstantly partnering with God and
through His Holy Spirit toaccomplish anything.
I love how Paul says.
He says I can do nothing apartfrom Christ.
I think that's how ourbusiness should be.
That's how our life should be.
That's how your creativeendeavor should be.
(14:55):
I cannot do this without Christ.
And every morning and everyopportunity, I'm going to thank God
for being with me in the midstof this, whether it be my finances,
whether it be my health, my relationship.
I thank God for where Icurrently am, and I thank him for
where he's bringing me to.
And you know, the last truthabout the entitlement is it steals
our joy because joy comes fromreceiving, but entitlement comes
(15:19):
from grasping.
And if you're constantlygrasping, you're not going to be
receiving because you're.
You're the person trying toget, get, get, get, get, and never
giving.
And there's no reciprocal relationship.
So there's no joy.
And if there's no joy, there'sno connection.
If there's no joy, there's no strength.
If there's no joy, there's alot of things missing, and therefore
(15:39):
it steals everything you'retrying to build.
And because here's some way,here's a way to think about it, here's
a.
Here's an interesting way tothink about it.
Owners.
You may be a business owner,you may be, you know, in charge of
a ministry, but if you havethe owner's mentality, owners carry
the weight of the outcome.
Stewards, which we are calledstewardship, only carry the weight
(16:00):
of obedience.
Hear that one more time.
If you have an owner mindset,you are carrying the entire weight
of the outcome.
If you have a steward mindset,you are just being obedient to each
step.
And you're leaving God withthe ability to do only what God can
do because he is in charge ofthe outcome, not you.
So we are a branch manager.
(16:22):
We are not the owner.
And the pressure, if we put iton us as owners, then we become God
of our business.
This is where we have to breakanxiety and understand that I don't
own my business.
If my business makes a milliondollars, thank you, Jesus.
If my business made 500 bucks,thank you, Jesus.
If my business makes $0, thankyou, Jesus.
(16:43):
My only step is to take thenext step and say, God, where do
you want me?
Oh, you want me to start a podcast?
All right, let me do this.
And we'll just step this eachway with you to see where it goes.
And I'm going to trust youthat you have the financial provision
for me to take care ofeverything that needs to be taken
care of in.
Even if I don't know whereit's coming from.
(17:05):
Because you're the owner, I'mthe steward.
So if I'm going to stewardthis properly, I need your resources.
So thank you, Jesus.
And when we operate in theseplaces of gratitude, you see, we're
connected in a proper biblical way.
And our business grows,ministry grows, relationship grows,
health grows, all of thatgrows because we're stewards, not
(17:29):
owners.
And the last pressure, itgoes, we lose sight of people.
Now, this is near and dear toMy heart because I am 100% people
person.
Because here's what weunderstand is that a grateful heart
sees people as stewardship,not stepping stones.
I was on a podcast earliertoday and I thought this was, this
was great.
They had asked me a questionabout retreats and leaders and retreats.
(17:51):
And one of the things was, waswhat was one thing you had would
say to somebody about theretreat that would make the retreat
better.
And I said if they're a leaderleading this treat retreat, then
they have to make it about theother person.
Because if we make it aboutus, then it becomes about us and
everybody else loses out.
But if we make it about themas leaders, we make it about them
(18:11):
and their growth and theirpushing through and them getting
all that God wants, then wealso gain because we're in a no lose
situation where nobody losesbecause I'm giving and serving and
they're giving and serving back.
And it becomes a reciprocalrelationship where we're giving thanks
to God because it is justabout serving and who you serve will
(18:33):
ultimately come back and fillyour cup up.
So we need to not lose sightof people, but to make people the
focus.
Because God made people the focus.
And with that all kind ofbeing said, I do want to make sure
that we, we really bring intothe, the practical ways because as
we're building spiritualauthority, as we're building, you
know, all this places ofgratitude, there are some practical
(18:55):
things we can do as leaders togrow our gratitude.
Number one, I would highlysuggest that you have a daily reframe.
We're going to stop askingwhat did I produce?
What did I accomplish?
And we're going to startasking what did God provide today?
Did God provide you energy,strategy, wisdom, rest?
(19:16):
Let's take our gratitude andfocus in on what God's doing in the
midst of it.
And as we evaluate what we'redoing in light of that, we can see
where we can change, where wecan increase what wisdom we can use.
But make sure you're dailyreframing it.
Where did God show up?
The second thing is do aweekly review, right?
I think this is actually aninteresting, I challenge you to do
(19:38):
it like for 7 to 14 days,track what drains you and then track
also what gave you life.
Give God thanks for thepatterns he's showing you.
Because if you're trying togrow your business, there's drainers
and there's, there's fillers,Remove drainer, add fillers.
And so if we do that, we canthank God for revealing what are,
(20:00):
what is taking our or stealingour energy and time.
And we can thank them for getplacing things in there that is giving
that time and energy back.
Another thing, and I've gotlike two more.
Another thing is, is I wouldput in a memory bank.
And now in the Old Testamentit was really often said, you know,
do stones of memory becausethese stones of memory would be remembrances
(20:20):
for generations to come.
And because you and I forgetoften because you and I are totally
out there some days it is sogreat to get a journal of some sort
and write down answeredprayers, write down where you saw
God, write down what provisionhe gave you, write down what wisdom
he gave you.
Write down everything you sawGod come through in that day and
(20:42):
throughout.
Take a running record for fromnow till the day you go to meet him.
And whenever you're in yourlowest portions, whenever you're
in your lowest places, go backand say, hey, this is where God moved
here.
I know he's going to movehere, right?
And just keep doing that everytime you feel low or even when you
feel high, like, like you'reexcited, you're joyful.
(21:04):
Let's celebrate and praise bygo looking what God done, God did.
And the last thing is have apeople blessing time.
Now this is not something thatyou're just going to go and, and
give money away to people,although that could be a thing and
that's easy.
This is going to be somewhereonce a week where you call somebody
up and you intentionally startto encourage them, pray for them
(21:25):
for who they are, not whatthey did.
You, you can sit there andsay, I love that you're this type
of person and you show up inthis way for me.
Thank you so much.
Do that with one person a week.
I promise you your joy willcome, really coming, flying back
in.
And because gratitude buildswhere comparison steals, let that
sink in your heart.
(21:45):
And if.
Let me just end with this isyour assignment is a real part of
your life, the pressures in itare real.
But so is gratitude and so isGod's grace.
And if you're constantly in aplace where you're, where you're
yearning and pushing intoplaces of gratitude, places of I'm
going to give thanks to God inwhatever situation because that's
what he tells me to do.
(22:06):
You're going to find that yoursoul is anchored.
And no matter what storm yougo through, you will always be placed
on the rock because you are anchored.
And the glue of that anchoringis gratitude.
So let.
We're not going to make lightof your situation.
We're not going to make lightof your calling.
We're not going to make lightof your trauma.
We're going to focus onthanking God through it.
(22:28):
Not that we that not that weexperienced it, but that it didn't
destroy us.
Not that we have to deal withit, but that God is healing us through
it.
And all of those things arethings that we can practice for gratitude.
So I want you to go ahead andchoose one area of gratitude to practice
(22:49):
this week and just practice itfor the next seven days.
And then if you if you want,hit me up leadwithjim.com There's
a forward slash ask.
Send me a note or a voicemail.
Let me know how that worked out.
But with all that being said,I'll see you on the next episode.
Thank you for spending thistime with me on the Unshakable Life
podcast.
(23:09):
My prayer is that today'sconversation helps you to build resilience,
reclaim peace, and step withcourage into your God given calling.
If this episode has encouragedyou, challenged you, or impacted
you in any way, could you dome a favor?
Share it with a friend, leavea review and hit the follow so you
don't miss what's next.
(23:30):
And if you want more tools andencouragement for your journey, head
over to leadwithjim.com you'llfind resources to help you grow as
a healthy, authentic Christianleader, entrepreneur and creator.
And until next time, rememberyour foundation is Christ, your calling
is unshakable, and your lifecan make eternal impact.
(23:56):
Action no Strife.
Break free from the burnout.
Find your true north with your God.
Jim Burgoon Stepping forward.
This is the Unshakable life.
Host
Jim Burgoon
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
The Brothers Ortiz
The Brothers Ortiz is the story of two brothers–both successful, but in very different ways. Gabe Ortiz becomes a third-highest ranking officer in all of Texas while his younger brother Larry climbs the ranks in Puro Tango Blast, a notorious Texas Prison gang. Gabe doesn’t know all the details of his brother’s nefarious dealings, and he’s made a point not to ask, to protect their relationship. But when Larry is murdered during a home invasion in a rented beach house, Gabe has no choice but to look into what happened that night. To solve Larry’s murder, Gabe, and the whole Ortiz family, must ask each other tough questions.