As believers in Christ we can choose our attitude. We can approach life expecting to be served or we can look for ways to serve others. In God’s kingdom, service is the way to get ahead. Rather than wanting to have your needs met, begin to look for a way to meet the needs of other people. When we are hurting the most is the time to reach out and minister to other people that are hurting too. Your need may be even greater than theirs, but as you reach out to them, like a boomerang it comes back in the form of blessing to you.
King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes was a man who had it all. He denied himself no pleasure, whatever he wanted he had the means to get it and so in his search for meaning in life he held nothing back from himself, yet his conclusion was, “so I hated life.” (Ecclesiastes 2:17) A life that is lived for self is endless frustration, but when we give ourselves away in the service of God and others we find meaning in our lives.
Christ is our example of a good attitude. Jesus was humble and willing
to give up His rights in order to obey God and serve others. In the book
of Philippians 2:5-8, we see where Jesus willingly led a life of obedience,
devotion and loyalty. The word admonishes us to: “Have this attitude
in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed
in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as a thing to be
grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being
made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
As we learn from Jesus and begin to do things His way it will bring rest
and peace into our lives.
The book of James says that God opposes the proud but gives more grace
to the humble. Being humble involves having a true perspective about ourselves
while pride makes us self-centered and gives us the attitude that we deserve
all that we can get. Humility is an inner attitude and as we humble ourselves
before God we will find victory over our self-centered desires. James
in chapter 4 list five steps for obtaining more grace.
1. Submit- yield yourself to God’s authority
2. Resist the devil- stop allowing the devil to control your thoughts
and actions
3. Come near to God- by worship, prayer, fasting and the word
4. Wash your hands- confess any known sin
5. Purify your heart- let God cleanse you
What we think about determines what will come out in our words and in
our
actions and shows whether we have a good or bad attitude. If you’re
attitude is right
you will:
1. Have the right thoughts. ( Philippians 4:8) “Finally,
brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there
is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
2. Guard your mouth and tongue. (Proverbs 21:23) “He who guards
his mouth
and his tongue, guards his soul from troubles.”
3. Avert quarrels. (Proverbs20:3) “Keeping away from strife is an
honor for a
man, but any fool will quarrel.”
A good attitude will enable you to enjoy life by abstaining from retaliation.
Psalm 34:12-14 gives us some insight on how to avoid retaliating. “Who
is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart
from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” We’re to
avoid criticism, gossip, backbiting, lying, and deceit. Strive to treat
others the way you would want to be treated. Seek peace, it won’t
come to us automatically, go after it by not being argumentative and contentious,
forgive others their trespasses. Matthew 5:9 says “blessed are the
peacemakers.”
Finally, there’s a warning in the book of Hebrews for all of us
to heed: (Hebrews 12:14-15) “Pursue peace with all men, and the
sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that
no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing
up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.” Although we may not
“feel” loving toward other people, we must pursue peace in
all of our relationships to become more Christ-like. Charles Swindoll
says it all in his article on 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!”