Revive Our Hearts

Dana Gresh: Think of your life like a garden. Mary Cassian says there's something important you should be growing.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: If you want to walk as a Christian, you need to cultivate the discipline of gratitude into your life. So you need to understand that, and so you need to be careful to grow grateful.

Dana Gresh: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Choosing Gratitude. For November 4th, 2026, I'm Dana Gresh.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: So did you wake up grateful or grumbly today? And how do you usually wake up? What a question, right? Well, right now I'm grateful and excited about the guests we're going to hear from today. She's no stranger to the Revive Our Hearts world. She's a frequent guest on the program as well as a speaker at our True Woman Conferences. She's been with us from the beginning of the True Woman movement and is the co-author along with me of the True Woman 101 and 201 Bible studies. She's written lots of other books and she's an international speaker.

But you probably just know her as Mary.

Dana Gresh: Yeah, in case you didn't figure it out already, we're going to be hearing from Mary Cassian. Several years ago, she wrote a book on Gratitude, Growing Grateful. And I think we could all use more of that. So today we're going to dive into that topic. But Mary's not the only one who's written a book about being grateful. You too, you Nancy, you wrote a book. It's called Choosing Gratitude. And in recent months, you've had the opportunity to live out that teaching in I'd say a pretty major way. It started in the COVID days. As you know, 2020 was a hard year for everybody with the global pandemic, little call unrest, and more.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: That's right. But on top of that, as I've shared here before, in March of that year, my husband Robert was diagnosed with not one, but two different unrelated kinds of cancer. So that year was full of a lot of uncertainty, doctor's appointments, chemo treatments, and many, many questions. Robert and I realized that we could easily start to focus more on our personal problems or on the global or national issues around us than on God. So we decided to be really intentional about being thankful. Not just on the good days and for the good things, but on the hard days and even for hard things.

And as a visible reminder of God's goodness and his blessings, every night we wrote down on sticky notes the things we were grateful for that day and put them all over the walls of our sunroom. We called it our gratitude wall. I've recommended it to so many others since then because that practice was so crucial in keeping our eyes on Jesus rather than on our circumstances. It kept us from losing hope even on those days when it seemed like there was one piece of bad news after another.

Dana Gresh: Yeah, yeah. You know, you were really an example to a lot of us during that time. In fact, you inspired me to think about what I could thank God for on those days during 2020 when seemed like everything on the news was just scary and depressing. To watch a video of Nancy telling more about her and Robert's gratitude wall, visit reviveourhearts.com. We'll have a link to it in the transcript of today's program. Well, Nancy, in the days since then, Robert is now home with Jesus. And your faith through this difficult time has been inspiring to so many people.

You've shown us how to choose gratitude even when it's hard. I mean really hard. And I just want to thank you. Thank you for being such a faithful picture of what trusting in God is all about.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Thank you Dana. And you know it's all because of him. Now I want you to hear from today's guest. Dana Gresh recorded this conversation with Mary Cassian several years ago. And you'll hear Mary refer to her parents who have since gone to be with Jesus. Here's Dana.

Dana Gresh: Mary Cassian, welcome to the studio again.

Mary Cassian: Dana, I am grateful. And I actually woke up grateful cuz I thought I get to hang out with Dana today. So I'm really grateful for that.

Dana Gresh: You win a lot of points. Now the thing is you're going to help us whether we have our grateful on or not. So if there's somebody listening who's been defaulting to grumbling, they're in the right place today, right?

Mary Cassian: They are absolutely in the right place. We're going to be talking about gratitude and how to have the Lord stir up gratitude in our hearts and why it is so important for us to work on this important important discipline. We all need to work on that to be our default because it is a discipline. Gratitude is a discipline. It's something that we need to work at. It doesn't come naturally.

Dana Gresh: Mhm. Why does it matter so much?

Mary Cassian: Well, the Lord has given us principles, I think, to live by. And gratitude is one of them. And as Christians, we can draw gratitude from a different source. But I think just in a general sense, even people who are not Christians seem to benefit by bringing gratitude into their lives.

Dana Gresh: Give us a story or an example of how you've seen that.

Mary Cassian: Well, research actually proves that it is really good to be grateful. Gratitude makes us more hopeful, more energetic, more positive, less anxious and less envious and less depressed. We have more willpower, more compassion, more empathy, more integrity. And so that's why there's such a big push in society for people to just be grateful. I mean you I'm sure you've seen the gratitude journals or the all sort of sort of those pushes while we need to just have three things that we're grateful for today.

Dana Gresh: Yeah. Well, are those secular pushes for lack of a better word, are those secular pushes enough? Like does that get us in the mindset that we need? Like I kind of feel like I want to jump on that bandwagon. It seems like a good thing.

Mary Cassian: Well, it is a good thing, but it isn't the type of gratitude that the Lord wants of us. Being grateful for a sunset or being grateful for something good that happened to me, that's good. But the question is who are we being grateful to? We're being told by secular society, be grateful. Journal three things a day that we're grateful for. And gratitude has actually become a big business. There's t-shirts and bumper stickers and mugs and cups and posters, all sorts of things. Dana, I even saw when I was browsing on Amazon, I actually saw a pair of gratitude socks.

Maybe that's what you need. Maybe you need some gratitude socks.

Dana Gresh: I need to sleep in my gratitude socks.

Mary Cassian: Yeah, you need to Then you'd wake up happy maybe.

Dana Gresh: Yeah, yeah. And I think that these are good things, but what does God's word say about ultimately where gratitude gets its power?

Mary Cassian: Well, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, Give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. So for the Christian, gratitude is much more than a self-help or feel-good strategy. It 's much more than gratitude socks. It has a far different texture to it. Christian gratitude is different than what we see in the shopping malls. It is a spirit-filled discipline and it's a biblical lifestyle. And it is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. And so there's something about our connection to Christ Jesus and our connection, our relationship to God that takes gratitude to a whole different level and takes gratitude to a deeper level than what we see in the shopping malls.

You know what? Nancy actually wrote a book on gratitude. And in that So so this is a good Nancy quote. She said this. She said, Gratitude is a lifestyle, a hard-fought, grace-infused biblical lifestyle.

Dana Gresh: Okay.

Mary Cassian: And that's a great quote. I wrote it down. It's it's just such an amazing quote.

Dana Gresh: You know, I needed that quote today. I like that it says it's a hard-fought grace-infused biblical lifestyle. I don't usually wake up grumpy. It's unusual for me to do that, but there are those days. And on those days, I need to know that it 's normal. I am not the only one that has to do it. But sometimes we have to fight for that. And we have to fight for the will of God.

Mary Cassian: We have to fight for it. Gratitude is something we need to fight for. And it's a biblical lifestyle. So it's not something that we just do every once in a while. It's something that needs to be infused into our spirits on an ongoing basis. And I think people that don't know Jesus miss out on the fullness of gratitude because they have hearts perhaps that are grateful for a sunset or grateful for their gratitude socks. But if their hearts are grateful, but not grateful to God, they're not being grateful in the right sort of way. And that's for a Christian where gratitude is markedly different.

Gratitude is always linked to God, who is the giver of all good things. James 1:17 says, every generous act, every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. So when I see that sunset, when I see the autumn leaves changing, when I'm able to enjoy something, my heart ought to recognize that that is from God. That is a gift from God. And even when I'm going through hard times, we can recognize that those times also God is with us. And that is a gift from God.

Dana Gresh: You know, that verse James 1:17 came really alive in my life at a time when my husband had been in a life-threatening accident. And I was really trying to be grateful. I had two children at home. I had a puppy I was potty training. And now I had a husband who was in a hospital bed in my dining room. And those are not easy days to be grateful. But I was writing, Lord, I am thank you that the doctors were able to repair his body. Lord, I'm thankful that the insurance is covering this But I still was grumbly.

And my mentor said, Dana, how many times did you say I'm thankful that you enabled the doctor? I'm thankful that you have provided insurance for me. How many times have you attached that gratefulness and that thanks to the Father of lights? Every perfect gift is from him. And I remember to this day, I took my journal out. I wrote probably five pages, but this time I was directing all my gratitude to God. And it just it was a pivot point in this trial for me in terms of feeling the hope and the perspective that we're going to make it through this.

God has something in this for me. And he is in this with me. I think you're making a really valid point here. I've experienced that firsthand.

Mary Cassian: It is true that our gratitude is markedly different when we give gratitude to the giver of all good things, which is the Lord. And so Christians have that gratitude that is far richer and deeper. And I know Dana, I I've seen this in my own life. I've seen it in your life. I've seen it in Nancy's life. But one of the greatest examples that I have is my parents. They are 95 and 93 years old now and they're have health issues and they're facing end-of-life issues. And yet when I call them up every day, the voice on the other end is cheerful and it is Oh well, we're so thankful for what the Lord is doing.

And even if they're having a very difficult day, they will say we're so grateful that God is getting us through this difficult day. And so there's gratitude to the Lord even in the most difficult circumstances.

Dana Gresh: I feel like in many ways we're living the truth of Scripture or we have the opportunity to choose to live the truth of Scripture in a way that 's bringing it alive. It's not theoretical. This is the hot pavement of life, choosing to live in the pages of truth when times are difficult.

Mary Cassian: And I can see a difference in people who are believers, who are actually walking in that hard-fought lifestyle of gratitude. And you know what? The Bible warns us about unbelief. It warns us about a lack of gratitude. In Romans chapter 1 verse 21, it says, They knew God, but they didn't glorify him as God or show gratitude.

Dana Gresh: Ouch.

Mary Cassian: Ouch. Yeah.

Dana Gresh: I got to clarify. You're linking gratitude or lack of gratitude rather to unbelief.

Mary Cassian: Absolutely. Romans does. Romans chapter 1 that verse 21 says that gratitude is linked to unbelief. And there are consequences to it because the verse continues. It says, Their thinking became nonsense and their senseless minds were darkened. So there are positive consequences to cultivating an attitude of gratitude, but there are negative consequences to not cultivating this attitude. So if we are ungrateful, it carries terrible consequences. There's a lot of harm that goes on in our lives. Our thinking becomes clouded. Our minds become darkened. And you know that yourself. I've seen that. We've all seen that where we wake up and we are grumbly.

And because we're grumbly, we're not grateful for the good things that God has given us. And it just tends to increase and snowball and get worse until we're just snapping everyone's heads off and and just becoming a very unpleasant person to be around.

Dana Gresh: You've never done that, have you Mary?

Mary Cassian: Oh well, I must confess that I have. I have. But ingratitude produces this whole crop of ugly destructive weeds that grows up in our lives like envy and anxiety and depression and apathy and just all out nastiness. And we have less faith. Ingratitude is linked to unbelief.

Dana Gresh: Okay. So you're warning us that a lack of gratitude is unbelief. That motivates me to get serious about this. So what's your charge to us?

Mary Cassian: I think first of all, we need to understand that gratitude, growing grateful is a command. Give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God. So many people say, Oh, I'm looking for the will of God. What's the will of God in my life? What is the will of God? Well, here it is black and white. Give thanks in everything, for this is the will of God. So God's will for you, what God wants of you is to give thanks in everything in Christ Jesus. And so it's a command. This is not an option.

This is part of a Christian discipline that is part of the a Christian walk. If you want to walk as a Christian, you need to cultivate the discipline of gratitude into your life. So you need to understand that. And so you need to be careful to grow grateful. David said, You know what? It's good to give thanks to the Lord. And it is. And as you taste that, as you begin to turn your attitude toward the Lord and give him thanks even in difficult situations, you will find that it changes you and it turns you into a happier, more cheerful, and most importantly, more godly person.

Dana Gresh: You know Mary, in your book Growing Grateful, you give the most beautiful story of two women that really show us the contrast of being grateful or being grumbly.

Mary Cassian: Well, I used to work in a rehabilitation center. And I had two patients next door to each other. And there was one woman who she had a below-knee amputation. And she was grumbly. Oh my goodness, she was grumbly. It was difficult to go into her room. You would get your head snapped off. The curtains were drawn. It was dark. No one wanted to go in there because she was so ungrateful and abusive really. And then next door to her was a woman who had far more physical issues. She was disabled in so many different ways.

And her life from a physical point of view was much more bleak than the other woman. And yet this woman had an attitude of gratitude. And I do believe that she knew the Lord because she was so cheerful. It just exuded out of her. And even though she was struggling physically, her curtains were open. The visitors loved to stream in there and people loved to stream in there. And we loved to go give her care because she was just so grateful. Thank you so much, she would say. Thank you so much, dear. Just the gratitude changed her.

And I think that gratitude as an attitude will set us up for where we're going to end up in life. That you were either going to be It was such a good lessons for me to see that marked contrast because it reminded me that I can choose to walk into that room or walk into that room in terms of the attitude that I am going to have. And I want to be the woman who is grateful. I want to be the woman who gives thanks to the Lord in all circumstances.

Dana Gresh: Well, you know, as I hear that story, I think not only did the gratitude change her, it changed the people around her. Right?

Mary Cassian: It does.

Dana Gresh: And they were you were drawn to her. I want to be that kind of woman. I want people to be drawn to me. And gratitude is a big part of that. You're saying that being grateful really is one of the significant ways that we line up our living with our doctrine.

Mary Cassian: It is one of the significant ways. And not only does gratitude draw people to us, ultimately what it does is it draws people to Jesus. It draws people to Christ Jesus and to the Father from whom all blessings flow. And so that's why the Bible repeatedly instructs us to be grateful in all things because this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus.

Dana Gresh: Mary, I would like to say that this book is a coffee table book, but it's so much richer theologically, full of truth than that. Would you just read a little piece to give us a taste of how beautiful it is?

Mary Cassian: The second day of meditations talks about growing grateful. And it focuses on Isaiah chapter 61 verse 11. As the earth brings forth its sprouts and as a garden causes what is sown in in it to sprout up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations. In my part of the world, winter lingers until the end of March or even longer. By then, I'm tired of the cold, white, lifeless landscape. I yearn for the prairie crocus. This member of the buttercup family is the first flower to burst through the snow and defy the monochromatic scenery with vivid purple, yellow, and green.

It heralds the coming of spring. I'm always elated to spot the first crocus because I know that the daffodils and tulips will rush to follow its lead. The trees will soon blush green. Lilacs, apple blossoms, and lilies of the valley will perfume the air. I'll plant sweet pea seeds and vegetable seedlings in my garden. Fill the massive clay pot on my deck with herbs, bed geraniums, petunias, and begonias in the raised planter encircling my patio. Over the course of the summer, I'll watch the blooms multiply and spill over the stone walls. I'll pick fragrant herbs from my recipes, harvest tasty fruit and vegetables from my table, and delight in the beauty and the wonder of it all.

Scripture indicates that the Lord causes goodness and gratitude to sprout up in our hearts like shoots in a garden. Gratitude is just as important to him as goodness. The gardener of our hearts doesn't only want us to grow more holy. He also wants us to grow more grateful. He longs to see gratefulness spring up in your life even more than northerners long for the first flowers of spring. Is your heart's garden blooming with gratitude? Would you characterize it as being in a state of winter or spring? What do you think you can do today to grow more grateful?

Dana Gresh: Mhm. Isn't that beautiful? That's Mary Cassian reading from her book Growing Grateful. Before that, we talked about what Christian gratitude really is. You know, here in the United States at this time of year with Thanksgiving coming up, it's easy to think about gratitude more often. I mean everybody's talking about it, including us of course. And that's good. I think it's great to have a time set aside specifically for giving thanks. But do you find it easy to forget about being thankful after Thanksgiving when the Christmas chaos begins or maybe in February when winter seems like it will never end or perhaps in July when the kids are driving you crazy.

It's too hot to go outside and you feel like you're always driving someone somewhere. Well, the reality is gratitude isn't just for November. We should express it all year round. That's what one listener did when she sent us this email. And wow, we were so encouraged by this. Listen to this. She wrote, I'm so thankful the Lord brought Revive Our Hearts into my life. During a season when the Lord was drawing me back close to him, Revive Our Hearts became the mentor I had longed for. I didn't have a flesh and blood mentor during that time.

And there were so many days when I really didn't have anyone to talk to about what the Lord was doing in my heart. But every day I would listen to the program and be pointed right back to God's word. She went on to write, The Lord used this ministry to encourage me, teach me, convict me, and help me grow in my walk with him. Looking back, I can see his providence so clearly. He knew the desire of my heart for someone to come alongside me. And he provided that in a way I never expected. So much of what the Lord taught me through Revive Our Hearts during those years helped lay a foundation in my life that I'm still building on today.

I will always be thankful for this ministry and for the women who faithfully opened God's word and poured into women like me. Women they may never meet this side of heaven. Praise the Lord. It is always so sweet to hear that he's using Revive Our Hearts like that. And you know, even when times are tough, one thing we can always express gratitude for is God's word. And that's our theme this month, thankful for the word. And our brand new 2027 ministry calendar helps you cultivate just that kind of gratitude. Its theme is wonder of the word.

And I hope it'll inspire you to open Scripture every day. The calendar is filled with the sweetest artwork by our friend Sierra Dearking. And of course encouragement from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. Everything's focused on the glorious gift of God's word. And this month, we want to send that calendar to you when you give a gift of any amount to support Revive Our Hearts because we are grateful for you. And we couldn't produce any of these programs or resources without your help. You can make a donation when you visit our website at reviveourhearts.com. Or if you'd prefer, you can call us at 1-800-569-5959.

When you give, be sure to ask for the 2027 wall calendar. Hey Mary, thank you so much for being with us today. I feel like I feel like I'm growing grateful. Thank you.

Mary Cassian: You are welcome. It's so fun to be here with you Dana. Tomorrow we're going to talk more about how to be grateful and how a Christian has so many different reasons to be grateful. But the question I want to leave with the listeners today as they ponder this whole topic is this. Are you a grateful woman? What do your levels of peace and contentment and happiness indicate about your need to grow more grateful?

Dana Gresh: Oh, I'm grateful for that opportunity Mary. We'll look forward to that tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts. This program is a listener supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.