Monday Morning Devotion-October 29, 2018
*Reprinted from 8 years ago…Oct 25, 2010… because it's important to monitor our attitudes.
Now About that Attitude
Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had though He was God, He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. He made himself nothing, He took the humble position of slave and appeared in human form. Philippians 2:5-7
How's your attitude today? "My attitude is just fine," you quickly answer. OK, OK, you don't have to get an attitude about it. :)
Haven't you heard someone described as having an attitude? We all have attitudes about stuff...usually about a person, place, thing or event. The thing about attitudes is that they are usually positive or negative. Or if you are conflicted or ambivalent about something you could possess both positive and negative attitudes about it.
As the late Zig Ziglar once said: "Your attitude affects your altitude." Attitude really affects everything we do. How many times have you thought about or actually stated that you either needed to or already had a change of attitude about something? I believe we've all experienced that because as I read on Wikipedia, "unlike personality attitudes are expected to change as a result of experience" (Tesser 1993).
Charles Swindoll, author, pastor and theologian says, "The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes. "
Choosing your attitude is not always that simple. It isn't like we just wake up and say, "Let me see. I think I'll have a bad attitude today." Or maybe you wake up feeling very positive about your life and you have a really good attitude and whammo, first thing you know something happens that destroys it and puts you in a bad mood. Thus, a change of attitude from positive to negative occurs.
Of course, you can choose to move past that negativity and overcome it with positive thinking especially if some other person caused the attitude change. It's worth trying even if you have to struggle to accomplish it. As Herm Allbright once said: "A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
Instructions about attitude can be found in the Bible. Our scripture lesson: Philippians 2:5 says; "Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not demand and cling to rights as God. He made himself nothing, he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.
The commentary says: "Jesus Christ was humble, willing to give up his rights in order to obey God and serve people. Like Christ we should have a servant's attitude, serving out of love for God and for others, not out of guilt or fear. Remember you can choose your attitude. You can approach life expecting to be served, or you can look for opportunities to serve others." I'd say that verse is referring to a positive attitude wouldn't you? Certainly one of willingness to serve.
That can be knocked askew when your attitude of service is rejected, or exploited or criticized. You might say: "Well, Jesus didn't bump into some of the people I have to deal with." Well, I think He did...in fact they were even worse. You don't have anybody out there wanting to kill you because of your attitude, do you? I certainly hope not.
Some folks can push us to the limit. Ultimately, we must just decide not to let them destroy the good positive attitude we are trying to foster. We do have the choice, as difficult as it may seem at times.
Jesus had to decide to have a positive attitude in his ministry despite those Pharisees and Sadducees. He had to remain positive about the work he was doing in spite of his hometown folks who rejected his teaching and wisdom.
In submission to the will of the Heavenly Father Jesus set aside the right to his glory and power. He became human therefore he had to choose his attitudes just like we do.
He did become angry at times, like when he ran the moneychangers out of the temple. He became frustrated when after many months of teaching and setting an example the disciples, at times, still professed ignorance of His mission and who He was. On occasion, they just didn't seem to get it and that certainly must have perplexed Him. But his attitude always returned to a positive, confident approach. He knew that what He was doing was fulfilling a mission and He refused to let a negative attitude linger and defeat Him.
As difficult as it seems, ours should be the same attitude as Christ. More about our Heavenly Father and being filled with more of Him and less of ourselves and to put service to others ahead of our own needs.
As I write that I know how difficult it is to achieve. It can't be done overnight, but it can be done with one attitude change at a time and over the course of time our overall attitude will be transformed.
"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather always bring your own sunshine," because as Winston Churchill said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."
Monday Prayer: Lord thank you for this lesson on attitude and the reminder that you are always available to help us have the proper attitude. Amen!