Philippians 4:8; Attitude

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”

Why do we spend so much time worrying, complaining and being angry about things that we have no control over?  Seriously, take a moment and think about that.  How much energy do you waste on things like the weather, the actions of others, traffic, and other uncontrollable things?  If you are like me, far too much of my energy goes to things I can’t control.

I remember being upset and angry for hours because my team lost a big football game.  I remember it so well because it was on Saturday!  And then I get angry because I know I am being stupid for being angry which just makes it worse – I’m a basket-case.  Being disappointed is one thing, but I was several giant steps beyond disappointed.  So ridiculous.

But I digress…while there are lots of things we can’t control, there are some things we can control.  And the greatest of those is this: we can always control our attitude.  We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to the things that happen to us.  Just go ahead and jot this down:

Your ability to control your attitude will determine your ability to enjoy life.

You really have two options. You can choose to focus on things you can’t control: terrorism, gun violence, ISIS, the lack of morality in our culture, cancer, fear, disease, and all the negative aspects of life. Or, you can choose to focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. 

Which of those two people would you rather hang out with?  Which of those two people would you rather be?  You can be.  If the Bible tells you to do it, Christ will give you the ability to do it.  And it starts by disciplining your mind to look past the temporary reality around us to the permanent reality that resides within us. 

In the face of really terrible things, we can set our minds on the excellent and praiseworthy because Jesus overcame the world – and He lives within us.  Being a follower of Christ doesn’t make all the hard things in life go away, to the contrary, sometimes they get worse!  But knowing Christ allows us to rise above our circumstances and live joyfully in midst of challenges. 

And I don’t know about you, but I want to be a positive, encouraging, and thankful kind of person.  And the way to do that is to follow Paul’s command to set your mind on things that are true, noble, and right.  It is not easy, but it is good!

“We become what we think about.” – Earl Nightingale