“Words can never adequately convey the incredible
impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live
the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent
what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to
it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
“This may shock you, but I believe the single most
significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis
is my choice of attitude. It is more important than
my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or
failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me
or say about me, my circumstances, or my position.
Attitude is that 'single string' that keeps me going
or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or
assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right,
there's no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no
dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.” –
Charles R. Swindoll
Attitude. How important is it? Does it really
matter what we think and how we feel. Attitude is a
choice. It determines our response to life’s
situations. Attitude is an inward feeling expressed
by our behavior and interaction with others. Some
people believe they can’t control their attitude.
Nothing could be further from the truth. As I write
this I am writing it to myself. I have to constantly
guard my attitude.
Philippians 2:1-11 points out the attitude that Jesus
Christ had when He came to earth. Vs. 5 says “You
must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”
The word for “attitude” found in the NLT is “mind” is
some other translations. The word itself means
“habit of thought (expressed in deeds)”. It has an
intention behind it, a choice to think a particular
way. When Jesus came to earth He took upon Himself
the position of a servant, touching the lives of
people culminating in His death on the cross. He was
not arrogant, self-centered, negative or critical.
He was on a mission and His mindset (His attitude we
could say) was that of fulfilling the Father’s will.
In the same book, the writer Paul, in discussing his
approach to life said,
“I know how to live on almost nothing or with
everything. I have learned the secret of living in
every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or
empty, with plenty or little. For I can do
everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”
(Philippians 4:12, 13)
Paul “learned” how to live. He made choices. We all
do at we go through our days. People with negative,
critical, bad attitudes can undermine God’s work in a
church, in a business, in relationships. We all have
bad days; we all have those moments when our
attitudes are less than good. The issue is whether
we allow those attitudes to stay or do we change them.
When it comes to situations and opportunities, this
does not mean that we don’t present ideas to others
that we believe in or have on our heart. What it
does mean though is that if our ideas are put on hold
or others have differing views, how do we respond?
Get critical and negative, or recognize that maybe
God wants to teach us something. As a pastor I have
had ideas that I have presented in the past to
churches I was at that were not accepted at the time
I presented them. People thought differently than I
did. I believe that even in those moments God was
teaching me something. It really is not about me.
It is about the Kingdom of God.
Our ideas may be good, and maybe should be
considered, but if the boss or those we are working
with see things different, isn’t that okay? If we
are not talking about someone doing something
unethical or wrong, we need to be able to deal with
the situation with the mindset of Christ. In church
work I may have a different view or approach than
others, and maybe what I propose doesn’t come to pass
at that time or at all. Am I willing to still love
those people, work with them and be okay with things?
As a pastor, but more as a Christian, I need to be
able to move forward.
Our attitudes affect our approach to life and our
relationships with people and how we approach
situations and circumstances. They do play a part in
how we respond to things.
Over the years I have received emails from people
that were not just sent to me but to several people.
In those emails the person writing them was
complaining about all kinds of things. I have been
around people who gripe about their spouses, their
churches, their jobs. Life just does not seem good
to them, or so it appears. And these folks were
Christians. There are so many ways to connect and
communicate that I believe as Christians we even need
to be careful. People use My Space, Facebook or some
other social network in so many positive ways but I
have seen Christians use it as a means to be critical
and negative of both others and situations and
circumstances. We all have those "bad attitude" days
but we need to watch how we project those to others.
John Maxwell, in his book “The Winning Attitude”
challenges those reading the book with an “Attitude
Application” at the end of the first chapter. He writes,
Have I checked my attitude lately?
How would I rate my attitude?
__ Never been better
__ Never been worse
__ Nose-high
__ Nose-down
What is an attitude indicator (something which
reflects my perspective) in my life?
I appreciate these thoughts from Maxwell. I
appreciate more the model of life Jesus gave us. I
love Burwell Baptist and all you who are a part of
it. God has blessed us with so many wonderful
people. Thanks for being who you are. God bless.
In Christ,
Pastor Scott
