Attitude Adjustments

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” – Psalm 139:23-24

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” – Colossians 3:12-13

Scripture Reading: Colossians 3

We’re working on “sharing” in my house. As the mother of a 5-year old, I often have to intervene in matters of sharing toys, taking turns, and other basic attitude adjustments. And though he needs frequent adjustments, when my 5-year old gets it right, it makes me smile.

Maybe I’m more like a 5-year old than I realize. I’m often convicted of the fact that, in my supposedly “grown-up” life, my attitude needs frequent (even moment-by-moment) adjustment.

As Christians, we often convince ourselves that because we’ve cleaned up our act, we are clean before God. But in Colossians 3, Paul contends that attitudes are the root of our actions (Proverbs 4:23). And just like you can pull a weed, and not kill it if you haven’t pulled up the root, if you clean up your act without cleaning up your attitudes, the act will only last for so long.

In Verses 1-4, we are told that since we are risen in Christ, we should live in Christ. That makes sense. I can absolutely get on board with that idea. As we move into Verse 5, Paul starts to list the obvious, outward sins that need to go – immorality, lust, greed, and the actions that easily define a life lived outside of the will of God. But in Verse 8, he starts to dig deeper, getting into everyday thoughts and attitudes, which can spring up even in the cleanest of lives – things like anger, lying, and corrupt communication, in general. The real challenge starts here.

In Verse 10, he points out that the Christian life is all about being the “new man” or the “new creature” (II Corinthians 5:17). And it not only involves a new attitude towards God, but a new attitude towards others as well. As we live in the abundance of His mercy, we learn to extend mercy, to forgive and forbear (Verses 12-15, Micah 6:8, Matthew 5:7, Romans 12:10, Ephesians 4:32). Paul then gives some practical ways to maintain our new attitude. Now we’re getting somewhere. Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs – I love all of that, and I truly believe that to spiritually be in your right mind, you need to fill your mind with the right stuff (Verse 16).

And now that Paul has our attention on the attitudes and the adjustment, he goes for the application. Verses 18-22 drive it home – literally. It’s not just about walking around in my little spiritual bubble, singing hymns and thanking God for the stuff I like. It’s about test-driving my new attitude over and over, in the very real and sometimes messy moment-by-moment interactions with my spouse, my kids, and all of the other people in my life that are supposed to be more important than me (which, according to my Bible, is everyone). And when my attitude fails the test (as it often does), I need to get back in the Word and ask God to help me make more adjustments, so that the next test-drive goes a little more smoothly and gives Him a lot more glory.

My question to you today – where are you in this process? Are you deliberately, intentionally, and prayerfully adjusting the attitudes in your heart on a daily basis? Surface cleanup is temporary at best. Deep, heart-cleaning attitude adjustments have eternal value and glorify God better (Romans 12:2, II Corinthians 10:5). In short, they make God smile (Psalm 37:23-24).

Today, I’m working on being less like a 5-year old, and more like the 33-year old God-in-the-flesh, who humbled Himself to die the death that I deserved (Philippians 2:7-9). He put me before Himself, so I will deliberately and prayerfully adjust my attitude to put Him first, others second, and myself last. And when the 5-year old in me gets the best of me, and I feel my attitude failing, I’ll go back to the cross for another helping of mercy (Hebrews 4:15-16), so I can work on sharing that mercy all over again.

YOUR PRESCRIPTION

Work on your sharing. Share Christ in the everyday by sharing His mercy with those around you. Ask Him to adjust your attitude so that He can shine through you to someone who needs Him.