Always be full of joy. Never stop praying. Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ERV
During the holidays and all year long, this verse gives us three clear expectations of how God wants us to live:
- Always be full of joy.
- Never stop praying.
- Always be thankful.
The holidays bring challenges, but they also bring opportunities to live out these words. When the world feels dark, when life brings stress, and when the future feels uncertain, God can give us joy that no one can take away.
It’s not always easy to live out these words, which is where holiday movies can help us out. When gratitude doesn’t come easily, we have a loveable character to show us the path: Charlie Brown.
The Peanuts comics and movies address topics many of us relate to, like seasonal depression, unmet expectations, loneliness, and connection with others. But the stories almost always lead to their characters coming together, creating community, and being grateful for what they have:
“Happiness is morning and evening, daytime and nighttime too. For happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you!”
You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
As we head into Thanksgiving (and the holiday season in general), we created a quiz based on some of the characters in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” to help us find our path to the grateful, joyful life that God wants to give us.
Each character result will come with a “path to gratitude,” along with scriptures and Bible studies to help us grow in the qualities we need to live joyful and grateful lives this holiday season.
Note: This quiz is intended to be a fun reflection tool. As always, the results may not perfectly describe you, and each question might not have answers that you specifically relate to. Just pick the answers that most fits you, and simply use the results as conversation starters with God and friends as you compare answers and grow in gratitude together!
Take the quiz
You are Charlie Brown!
Path to gratitude: relationships
Your holiday strengths: You are self-aware and expressive. You want meaningful connections and experiences.
Your holiday challenges: You can get negative and unbelieving. You also try to do things alone, which causes too much stress.
At first glance, Charlie Brown is often seen as negative. He gets down on himself and discouraged about what’s happening around him. But at his core, what Charlie Brown wants most is relationships
Charlie Brown found his path to gratitude when he decided to rely on and prioritize his relationships. When his focus wasn’t on building friendship, everything felt incredibly stressful, frustrating, and discouraging. But when he shifted his focus to both expressing his needs to friends and encouraging them, everything became so much more enjoyable, fun, and manageable.
Even if our holidays aren’t the picture-perfect image we had in our head, we can still be grateful when we have friendship with God and each other.
Scriptures to reflect on:
- 2 Corinthians 7:6 NLT But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.
- Philippians 1:3-4 NLT Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. [4] Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,
- Acts 2:46 TLB They worshiped together regularly at the Temple each day, met in small groups in homes for Communion, and shared their meals with great joy and thankfulness,
Bible studies/books to read:
- 5 Ways to Make This Holiday Season the Best Ever
- How Gratitude Builds Lifelong Relationships (Coming soon!)
- The book of 2 Corinthians with a focus on building relationships.
You are Linus!
Path to gratitude: serving
Your holiday strengths: You are a supportive friend who enjoys helping others.
Your holiday challenges: You can get insecure about your limitations, which makes you self-focused.
Linus is a deeply loyal friend; he is always at Charlie Brown’s side with his trusty blanket in tow. He has his quirks (see: blanket) but he accepts and embraces these things about himself. In “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” he is free from insecurity and staunchly supportive of his friend, helping him put together an impromptu dinner for their friends that was impossible for Charlie Brown to do on his own.
When we serve others, we will be refreshed ourselves. If we’re on Linus’s path, it’s likely that we have weaknesses or insecurities that tempt us to get self-centered or self-critical.
As Linus accepted who he was — quirks and all — he became the voice of wisdom and source of encouragement to his friends around him.
When our focus shifts from inward at ourselves to outward at others, we get refreshed, and God begins to show us all that we have to be grateful for.
Scriptures to reflect on:
- Proverbs 11:25 NLT The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
- 1 John 3:18-20 MSG My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.
- 1 John 4:19 TPT Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.
- Hebrews 12:28 AMP Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, and offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship with reverence and awe;
Bible studies/books to read:
- 5 Ways to Make This Holiday Season the Best Ever
- How to Ignite Our Passion for Doing Good
- The book of 1 John with a focus on loving others.
You are Peppermint Patty!
Path to gratitude: humility
Your holiday strengths: You are a confident leader who enjoys bringing people together.
Your holiday challenges: You don’t always listen to others.
In “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” Peppermint Patty invites herself over to Thanksgiving dinner at Charlie Brown’s place and brings friends along with her. However, her bold confidence got in the way of listening to other people.
Eventually, humility helps Peppermint Patty experience true gratitude
Peppermint Patty shows us that listening to and valuing the perspectives of others will make us truly grateful. Rather than trusting our own wisdom and expecting everyone to go along with what we like, we can learn from the wisdom and strengths of God and our friends.
Scriptures to reflect on:
- Psalm 141:5 TPT When one of your godly ones corrects me or one of your faithful ones rebukes me, I will accept it like an honor I cannot refuse. It will be as healing medicine that I swallow without an offended heart. Even if they are mistaken, I will continue to pray.
- Matthew 13:12 TPT For everyone who listens with an open heart will receive progressively more revelation until he has more than enough. But those who don’t listen with an open, teachable heart, even the understanding that they think they have will be taken from them.
- 2 Chronicles 32:25 GNT But Hezekiah was too proud to show gratitude for what the LORD had done for him, and Judah and Jerusalem suffered for it.
- Proverbs 10:8 NLT The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces.
- Luke 7:47 MSG … She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”
Bible studies/books to read:
- 5 Ways to Make This Holiday Season the Best Ever
- Experiencing the Inspiration of Grace (Coming soon!)
- The book of Philippians with a focus on having the humility of Jesus.
You are Marcie!
Path to gratitude: honesty
Your holiday strengths: You are thoughtful and considerate of people around you.
Your holiday challenges: You’re not always confident enough to speak up about what you think or need, which can lead to resentment.
Marcie is a gentle, observant peacemaker. In “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” Marcie’s kind correction and conviction save the day, helping her friends find peace and resolution.
However, Marcie’s weakness is that she could be more of a follower than a leader, easily overshadowed by those with a bigger personality. When she chose to speak up, she discovered how valuable she was.
If you are a Marcie, your path to gratitude will be through honesty. When you decide to be yourself, you will see God working through you.
Scriptures to reflect on:
- Colossians 3:15 CEV Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.
- Ephesians 4:25 NLT So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.
- 1 John 1:5-7 NLT This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. [6] So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. [7] But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Bible studies/books to read:
- 5 Ways to Make This Holiday Season the Best Ever
- From Attitude to Gratitude (Coming soon!)
- The book of Galatians with a focus on speaking up about what we see in both ourselves and others.
You are Snoopy!
Path to gratitude: trust
Your holiday strengths: You are a joyful, loyal friend.
Your holiday challenges: You don’t always prioritize your time well.
Snoopy the dog is often the life of the party. Rich with imagination and always able to make a difficult situation enjoyable, Snoopy is a friend everyone wants to have. However, in all these fun times, Snoopy is very distractible. If you watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” you see him running back and forth between activities and tasks, leaving a little chaos behind him as he goes.
If you’re like Snoopy, you might have the best intentions. But as each new and shiny activity or responsibility arises, you get stuck. Each task feels just as urgent and important as the last, so how do you prioritize? Your path to slowing down to be grateful might be surprising, but it’s what you need: trust.
When we trust that God will help us be happy even if we don’t say yes to every activity, that he will take care of the details of tasks we’re overwhelmed by, and that friends can point us in the right direction, we won’t feel the need to do everything all at once. This can give us the space to slow down, remember what really matters, and be grateful for what we have.
Scriptures to reflect on:
- Psalm 28:7 NLT The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
- Psalm 127:1-2 NLT Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
- Psalm 119:37 AMP Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine], And restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways.
- Isaiah 26:3 AMP You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
- Philippians 4:4-7 MEV Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! [5] Let everyone come to know your gentleness. The Lord is at hand. [6] Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will protect your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Bible studies/books to read:
- 5 Ways to Make This Holiday Season the Best Ever
- The Distracted Person’s Guide to a Great Holiday Season (Coming soon!)
- The book of Ephesians with a focus on trusting God’s power and care over our own.
Explore more:
Recommended for you
When we are more exhausted than energized, we need to discover the power of the grace of God.
By embracing gratitude, we can break free from bitterness and find joy in what we have.
God’s grace is about more than forgiveness; it helps us find our life’s purpose.
