“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25 NIV)
James calls God’s Word a mirror. The mirror helps us evaluate ourselves. Once you look at a mirror, you can decide if you need to make any changes before you leave for the day. The Bible helps us do that, too.
One of the areas of our lives that can be a challenge is to maintain a good attitude. You might be thinking, “That’s true, but it doesn’t really matter. My attitude isn’t hurting anyone.”
But attitude does matter. It matters a lot. In fact, I’ve heard people rightly say, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” If you can’t keep a good attitude you probably won’t go far in life.
But the real reason attitude matters is because it matters to God.
Can you and I maintain a right spirit, a Christ-like spirit, and a right attitude while journeying through the ups and downs of life?
Attitude is a choice. Your spirit and your words are a daily choice. You don’t always get to choose the battles. You don’t always get to choose the trial, but you always get to choose how you respond.
Instead of complaining what can we do? We can determine to be grateful. We can intentionally fill our lives with praise and worship. We can ask God for strength to endure our difficulties. We can determine that no matter what happens, we will honor God with our attitude, our conversation, and our decisions.
One thing that helps is to pay attention to our words. Have you ever caught yourself complaining, and you didn’t realize you were doing it? If we are going to maintain a right attitude we need to monitor our conversation? One easy way to do this is to ask the people closest to you if and what you have been complaining about recently.
Complaining can become a habit. In fact, I’ve met people who had the gift of complaining. The only problem is this gift doesn’t appear in the Bible. Neither is the gift of criticism.
One of the most challenging verses in all of the Bible is found in Philippians 2:14 where the Apostle Paul wrote: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing…”
Ephesians 4:29 - “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Remember this truth: With the right attitude you’ll influence more people for Christ.
All around us are people who are discouraged and beaten down by life. They have plenty of people around them who are reminding them of the negative things all the time.
What people need is someone with a godly perspective. We cannot impact our world for Christ, if our attitude is driving people away from us.
Today’s Challenge: Let’s guard our spirit, watch our words, and choose the right attitude. In doing so, we’ll honor God, and be a blessing to those around us.
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