Attitude

I was thinking about how my attitude can affect my emotional and spiritual life. I have been reading in Hebrews, today I read “and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” I am very grateful to Jesus for that.

Then I thought about how many times I may have offended someone without even realizing it, and how many times I have been forgiven by a person. How many times have I forgiven someone without requiring them to apologize? Walking in an attitude of forgiveness is freeing to everyone involved.

I think of pride as putting one’s own interests above another’s, and thinking better of oneself than another. This requires a huge attitude adjustment, not to mention a heart adjustment. Humility, on the other hand, looks to lift someone else up. That does not mean that I put myself down, but I elevate another.

Here is how I think this attitude of forgiveness and humility works: I lift someone up. Along comes someone who lifts me up. I continue to lift, others continue to lift. On and on it goes. We are all lifted much higher by working together. Our synergy gets the job done much better than by each individual trying to “climb the ladder of success” by stepping on others.

We all win the race with this attitude. What are we all racing toward?  We race for “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (see Philippians 3:14)  Just like athletes, our attitudes can make a huge difference in whether we make it to the finish line or not. I am determined to gain that prize. If you are reading this, I’m supposing you are too.  It's always a good day to ask God if we have any attitude adjustments to be made.