In today’s podcast, you will learn how to get your “gratitude vaccination”.

Studies have found not only a correlation but an actual causal link showing that increased social media use brings an increase to feelings of depression, loneliness, anxiety, and envy. According to Dr. Frank J. Ninivaggi, “Unconscious envy prompts one to feel inadequate, incomplete, impotent and missing out.”

Gratitude reduces our tendencies to compare ourselves to others. “Comparison is the thief of joy,” as Theodore Roosevelt once said. When we practice gratitude, we are better able to celebrate the accomplishments of others in place of feeling bitterness and resentment towards them because of what they have or what they have accomplished.

Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Do you have a heart that is at peace? Gratitude is the antidote—or vaccine— to envy and a whole host of other negative emotions. Paul encourages us in Philippians 4:4-7 with these words: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”