Attitude

Since being laid off, starting and stopping a business, starting a new (old) career, and all the stresses of time and money while trying to be the best father, husband and friend I can be, I feel I am closer to understanding the below quote by Charles Swindoll than ever before...

“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, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, 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 everyday 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% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

How will you and I react to the trials and difficulties in our life? Will we see them with God's vision? Or will we try to walk through them alone, trusting in our own intelligence and resources??

I choose to walk with God. And I need His grace to do so.

Seems like a good reminder as we start the week :)

Attitude = Altitude

Image from Vinylsay.com

Years ago I was talking to a friend who had recently gotten married about my dating relationship with my now wife, Elizabeth. I was young(er) and wanted to do it right with Liz. We wanted to date in holiness and with purity. We wanted to do it God's way. This couple if I remember correctly had saved their first kiss until their wedding ceremony, and I looked up to him as a result.

He gave me this advice and wrote it on a piece of paper for me like this: Attitude = Altitude.

Though I struggled at the time understanding this encouragement as it pertained to my relationship with Liz, I now see a little more the broad value and application of this advice. Our attitude determines our altitude. I believe our attitude has a big impact on our success and how far we go in achieving our goals and dreams. A good attitude is a position of faith, rather than doubt.

I remember John Maxwell once writing about how just because we are a Christian doesn't mean we automatically have a good attitude about life. Isn't that true! You probably know someone like that, or maybe you are that Christian with a habitual bad attitude and outlook on life.

As Christians we should have the best attitude among people. Our Dad is the King, we have been given favor, forgiven of our sins, we walk with God The Holy Spirit Himself, and our future is secure in Him, among many more promises the Lord has given us. Unfortunately, our attitude, including mine, doesn't always reflect these awesome truths that God has given us.

So today, let's resolve to have our attitude reflect these great promises we have in Jesus, and join with the Psalmist who said,

This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Amen!