THE YEAR WAS 1998. Psychologist Martin Seligman was running for the presidency of the American Psychological Association. What would be his message, his unique platform? He was still mulling that over one day as he went to work in his garden, pulling weeds. By his own admission, he was so focused on the task of weeding that he lost his temper when his free-spirited five-year-old daughter came into the garden, dancing and singing and throwing the weeds about. He snapped angrily at her, and she walked away.

Soon, however, she was back, demanding to talk to him. I imagine her with her hands on her hips as she reminded him how, just before she turned five, she had made the decision to stop being a whiner. “That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she said. “And if I can stop whining, you can stop being such a grouch.”

This, from a five-year-old.

To his credit, it was an epiphany for Seligman. He saw his daughter’s precocious strength, and suddenly realized that raising her wasn’t merely a matter of correcting mistakes, but nurturing that strength. And eventually, from that experience, the idea of positive psychology was born, a move away from studying and fixing what’s wrong with humanity and toward understanding and encouraging what’s right.

One area of positive psychology that’s received a lot of attention is the cultivation of gratitude. Some researchers (with Christians like Robert Emmons among them) have found that people who have a regular practice of gratitude — such as taking time every day to reflect on and write down things for which you’re grateful — are happier overall.

Part of this is because we often suffer from what’s known as a negativity bias. Negative events and interactions affect us more deeply and for a longer period of time than positive ones; we take for granted what’s going right, and fret over what’s going wrong. A consistent practice of gratitude can help balance the emotional scales.

Is that why the apostle Paul encourages the Colossians to be grateful? Sort of. In the opening section of the letter, he gives thanks for them and encourages them to give “joyful thanks to the Father” in turn (Col 1:12, NIV). He does this while praying that they would be “strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that [they might] have great endurance and patience” (vs. 11). Thus, Paul isn’t saying, “Gee whiz, everything’s going so great, so don’t forget to say thank you to God!” He recognizes that if they’re going to continue to bear fruit for the gospel, they’re going to need patience and endurance — which go hand in hand with gratitude.

Later, in chapter 3, he adds this:

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:15-17)

Three times in three verses, Paul refers to gratitude or thanksgiving, using first an adjective, a noun, and then a verb. Not surprisingly, all three words share a common root. That root is the word charis, which in this passage the New International Version translates as “gratitude.” In Paul’s opening greeting, however, it’s translated as “grace”; it’s the “grace” half of “grace and peace.”

Charis is a major theme in Paul’s letters; he uses the word roughly 100 times, and it almost always refers to the grace and favor of God or Jesus. But this passage reflects the other side. Paul is not talking about a generic attitude of gratitude, as one might find in positive psychology, but a specific and appropriate response to the grace of God. As in chapter 1, such gratitude will help strengthen the Colossians’ endurance and patience — though in chapter 3, what Paul has in mind is their ability to endure and be patient with each other.

. . .

DON’T GET ME wrong. I’m not dissing positive psychology; I think we have much to learn from it. And indeed, I agree that an attitude of gratitude is a worthwhile thing to cultivate. Speaking personally, I know how easy it is to get so wrapped up in the challenges that I sometimes face at work that I lose sight of what a gift, what a tremendous grace it is to get to do what I do for a living. When I remember that, it helps put everything else in perspective, and frees me to approach challenges in a better frame of mind.

But the kind of gratitude and thankfulness Paul encourages, again, is a response to the grace of God. Read Colossians 1:3-14 again and note how Paul sketches the context of the “joyful thanks” he wants the people to give to the Father. Not surprisingly, the final note he strikes in that section is redemption and the forgiveness of sin; in Paul’s words, they have been rescued from the “dominion of darkness” and brought into the “kingdom of light.”

But there’s more. They should be thankful that they are already a community characterized by faith and love, even if they have some old habits and attitudes they need to set aside. They need to see how they are growing in the gospel, a gospel which promises a heavenly hope. And they need to ponder and be grateful for the fact that the Father has brought them into his family; they are now part of the ancient story of God’s holy people and share in their eternal inheritance.

Thus, in chapter 3, when Paul encourages the Colossians to be thankful, I believe he has all these things in mind. He could have attacked the Colossians for all their unholy and earthly ways: the anger, the lying, the prejudice. But that would have been no better than the folks in Colossae who were pressuring the people to be more religious by following a list of seemingly pious “Don’ts.” Paul’s approach is different; he reminds them of everything they already have in Christ, everything God has done and is doing, everything for which they should give thanks.

And as we’ll see next, such gratitude may mean that folks will break out in song.

Just don’t throw weeds, okay?