An Attitude Check.  (Final teaching on Renewing the Mind from Romans 12.1-2)

You can usually see an attitude long before you hear it.  Whether it is good or poor, our body language and facial expressions convey our attitudes loud and clear!   Therefore, if Christians are to be perceived at all like Christ, we need to examine our attitudes and make sure they are such that they convey goodness, kindness, gentleness, and peace.  (yes, the fruit of the Spirit which is present in the life of the dedicated believer!)

Let’s do an attitude check:

Generally, when it is a regular day for you, how would you rate your attitude?

Is it positive or negative?  ____________ 

Is it compassionate or apathetic? ___________

Is your attitude hopeful or worried or fearful or pessimistic? __________

Does your attitude move you toward your purpose or is it just reactive?____

Let’s get personal now—since some of us have already lived more than half of our lives, do we act as though ‘if I haven’t done it yet, probably not going to happen now.’  So is your attitude productive or have you flamed out?______

Do you have a grateful attitude or one that is never satisfied, never sated, always waiting for something more—maybe even greedy?______________

Is your attitude loving and benevolent or cynical? ____________

Is your attitude teachable or rigid? ___________

Is your attitude generous or selfish? ____________

Let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.1   Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious.2   The joy of the Lord is your strength3----express your JOY in a great attitude!   Choose joy to be expressed by your attitude today—that is a choice only you can make.

Having evaluated your present attitudes, do you want to change any of them?  Do you need help?  First, enlist the help of the Holy Spirit.  “Renew a right spirit within me,”4 was the prayer of David, a man after God’s own heart.  Start your day with prayer, and include in your prayer the request that God will help you see your attitudes, and in seeing, correct if need be, the direction they are taking you.  Ask him to set you on a God-honoring course for your attitude.

Second, purpose to live in the moment—one day at a time.  Our Lord said, ‘Do not be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow has cares enough of its own.’5 

Third, monitor your input for it will impact your output—in this case, what you allow into your mind will affect your thinking and attitude, and perhaps your behavior.  ‘Battling depression?  Put down People magazine and read something that is life-giving.  Turn off the nightly news, and focus your thoughts on those things which are true, lovely, and pure—maybe a book like 90 Minutes in Heaven or Heaven is For Real or Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son.  **This will require proactivity on your part—during the day, get some valuable reading pieces and put them where they are accessible when you need them—don’t make it so that you have to hunt for them at 11 p.m., when you are weary.  Put your glasses there too, Smarty.

Take yourself on a fieldtrip to an aquarium, a beautiful old garden or a bird sanctuary, and appreciate God’s creation.  Don’t get stuck!  Elevate your thinking by directing your attention to all that God has for you.

Fourth, associate with great people.  >Find a small community of Christians with whom you can form close bonds and accountability.  >Identify a great thinker and find a way to be around him, and learn from him.  >Negative, self-absorbed or worldly ‘friends’ will only take you with them, so perhaps you should evaluate the impact of some of your acquaintances.  >And don’t be a sponge for someone’s maladjusted spewing either!  >Ask someone to pray for you and with you that you might change or improve your attitude(s).

And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace [a good attitude] as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.6   Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.7

Lord, check our attitudes, and make them more like yours, we pray.

Christine

1)  Matthew 5.16;  2) 1 Peter 3.4;   3) Nehemiah 8.10;  4) Psalm 51.10;  5) Matthew 6.34;  6) Romans 15.13; 7) Philippians 1.6