CONFRONTING ATTITUDE
Part 4
By David
Woodbury
There is no greater transformer of attitude
than revelation, understanding and knowledge. When new understanding dawns upon
us we are faced with the challenge to change our attitude for we have been
confronted with a new understanding. How we react to that understanding is the
crucial question. Some people will refuse to change even when confronted by new
information and revelation and will hang on to attitudes that are harmful and
self-destructive, refusing to allow the light to transform them.
Knowledge is a key
6 For
it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NKJV)
The same God who cast the stars across the
sky and commanded the light to shine can bring illumination and understanding
to our hearts and minds. With this illumination come revelation, understanding
and knowledge.
There is a distinct connection here between
the heart and our treatment of others. Note that this passage is actually a
prayer and herein lies one of the keys to a right attitude to others; that of
incessant prayer and communication with God. Nothing conditions the heart more
than allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us in our attitude and relationships
with others. The person who is constantly in touch with God and adopts an
attitude of love to others can stand before God with their heart blameless and
with a right attitude.
Necessary tools
14 Do
everything without complaining and arguing, 15 so that no one can criticize
you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights
in a world full of crooked and perverse people. 16 Hold firmly to the word
of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not
run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. (Philippians 2:14-16)
Now perhaps that it is worth noting a couple
of attitudes that Paul specifically addresses in verse 14. "Do all things
without complaining and disputing." Complaining and disputing are two
traits that destroy mutual respect and fellowship within any community. If we
have the attitude of Christ we will be extremely reluctant to complain or
grumble, either against God or our fellow Christians.
Action needed
We can, with the
help of the Spirit of God, change the attitudes we hold. 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 per cent
what happens to us and 90 per cent how we respond to it. Charles R. Swindoll
One of the most important steps in the A.A.
program has to do with realising that we need a power greater than ourselves to
help us change our attitude and perspective; "Came to believe that a power
greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." And the truth of the
matter is that everyone who truly wants to be God's person has to take that
very step.
The power to accept or reject Christ's
attitude for life and living still rests in our hands. Although Jesus may offer
the possibility of a new attitude, although Jesus may have sacrificed his life
to give us a new perspective for living, it is all academic until such time as
we CHOOSE to accept His perspective in our lives. We must exercise belief in
God, belief in Jesus, belief in what he has done on the cross if we want to
change our attitude. A change in attitude starts with a choice to believe in
Jesus and his power to change our life.
In this passage, Paul is dealing with the
attitude of legalist Jews in comparison to non-Jews whose heart was right. Because of their legalistic interpretation of the
law, the Jews practised an attitude of exclusion and contempt for all others,
as seen in Jesus conversation with the woman at the well. Their narrow, bigoted
attitude would even deny a weary traveller a drink of cool water from a well if
they were not a circumcised Jew. Such an attitude must inevitably be a catalyst
for contempt and disgust from others. By their attitude, the Jews turned people
away from the God who sought to embrace the whole world. Bad attitudes must
inevitably invite bad reactions. When we allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts our attitudes begin to change
and people are drawn to us. Real religion
is a thing of the open heart and the
open door. (William Barclay)
The source of energy in changing our attitude
comes from a total openness to the Spirit of God to work in our lives.
You are the
potter, I am the clay,
Mould me and
make me, this is what I pray.
Change my heart O God,
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God,
May I be like you.
Change my heart, O God,
May I be like you.
God uses broken things. It takes broken soil
to produce crop, broken clouds to given rain, broken grain to give bread,
broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth
perfume. It is Peter, broken and weeping bitterly, who returns in greater power
than ever. It is the broken body of Jesus that redeems me and pardons my sin.
Attitudes can be changed – entrenched habits
and thought patterns can be re-moulded when we allow God to break, mould and
fill our lives. Through his Spirit he can enable the change – our part is a willing and open
acceptance of His working within our lives.
The longer I live the more convinced that
there are not many things in life that I can really change. However, the one
thing that I can exercise ultimate power over is that of my own attitude in
which I approach life, and other people.
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian Jew imprisoned
by the Nazis during World War 2 – suffered torture and harsh treatment. Frankl
married in 1942, but in September of that year, he, his wife, his father,
mother, and brother, were all arrested and brought to the concentration camp at
Theresienstadt in Bohemia. His father died there of starvation. His
mother and brother were killed at Auschwitz in 1944. His wife died at
Bergen-Belsen in 1945. Only his sister Stella would survive, having
managed to immigrate to Australia a short while earlier. His experience in the
concentration camp taught him much about the attitude we have to life.
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Viktor E. Frankl
|
The reality is that most of us, at various
times, have come to the realisation that we have an attitude problem and would
like to change it. We need an attitude transplant. But try as we might, we seem
powerless to alter that attitude. Where is the source and energy that will do
that for us?
9 that
if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)
A genuine belief cannot be suppressed, and
the inward conviction will find outward expression. The two belong together and
are as inseparable as the sides of a coin. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses
with his lips and so is saved.—Interpreter's
Bible, The – Exposition
Our choice of attitude will inevitably mould
our lives and the direction they take. Samuel L. Brengle was a brilliant
student and an outstanding orator. Immediately upon his graduation from seminary,
he became the pastor of a large and influential church, but a burden for the
spiritual welfare of the poorer classes led him to go to London and join the
Salvation Army. Placed among a group of rowdy recruits, he was given the task
of cleaning a pile of muddy boots. He rebelled inwardly, for it seemed that
with all his training and ability he should not be doing such a menial job.
While he was seething with frustration, the thought of our Lord washing the
disciples' feet came to his mind. This changed his attitude and marked a
turning point in his life. He finished cleaning the footwear, and from that day
onward his ministry was marked by humble and fruitful service for his
fellowmen. When Brengle allowed God to change his attitude, the whole of his life
and ministry was transformed.
And when there are significant and
fundamental changes in the lives of singular individuals, it cannot but impact
upon the life of the wider community. It is interesting to note that the great
heyday of British economic power followed hard on the spiritual renewal led by
Wesley and Booth. The great economic boom of the 60s seemed to follow hard on
the heels of the spiritual renewal led by Billy Graham. Perhaps it is one of
the little known facts of history that economic and social revival nearly
always follows in the wake of a spiritual revival. Given that fact is true, it
would rather suggest that there is a positive step each man and woman can make
to stimulate spiritual, economic and social recovery in their nation, and that
is the process of a change of attitude on a personal basis.
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