The Choice of Thankfulness

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:34. Recently I've been learning that I need to be thankful regardless of the mood I'm in. It used to be a firm belief of mine that I had to feel like being thankful in order to give thanks to God. But David doesn't say, in 1 Chronicles, to give thanks when you feel like it. He says to give thanks because God is good. We, as humans, are not always good, but our motivation to be thankful is constant since God is good all of the time. Yesterday was a rough day for me, but that didn't change the goodness of God. Thankfulness is a choice. You don't have to be happy to give thanks. You don't have to understand what's going on to be thankful. God asks us to be thankful, so we must choose to be thankful, whether we feel like it or not. When we make that choice, He is pleased. "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.