Stepping Stones: What Controls Your Attitude?

Transformational Thought

I’d just moved into a new home. After I finally got most of my stuff unpacked and situated, I spent an afternoon breaking down and cutting up all the cardboard boxes, binding them into neat bundles and placing them on the curb for the next day’s trash removal.

A few days later, I returned home from a business trip to find a plastic baggy taped to my garage door. I could see there was a note in the bag and had a feeling that it was a “welcome to the neighborhood note.” Boy was I ever wrong. It was a note with a shipping label that had come off one of the boxes I broke down a few days prior.

The note read, “Please make sure your trash is packaged in a way that doesn’t allow it to blow into your neighbor’s yard. I already have enough garbage in my life, I don’t need yours.” Wow…welcome to the neighborhood indeed! It was clear that I had contributed to making this person’s bad day even worse. I think he or she must have had many bad days, or at least was going through a tough stretch.

I am learning that no matter what you do, you will never stop life’s bad turns. Traffic jams that cause you to miss that important appointment. Not getting that job or promotion. Someone being rude to you. Someone’s trash blowing into your yard. Remember, God is the one who allows all things to happen. We don’t know why, but He does, and He has a plan.

You can live happily each day despite life’s ups and downs, but it can only be done through daily dependence on Jesus Christ and trust in God’s sovereignty and plan. The Apostle Paul tells us that he learned the secret of being content in every situation; that he could do everything through Him that gives me strength.

Today, remember it’s not what happens to you that counts…but how you choose to react to each situation reflects your attitude, your heart, and is the fruit of your life. It just comes down to who’s in control of your attitude. When you feel uncomfortable today, stop and assess your reaction to the day’s events. What kind of lenses are you using, your me-centered ones, or your God-centered ones? Your decision, choose well.

Prayer
Dear Father God, I invite You to be in me and at work with me. Help me grow, Father, so that I may have the same attitude and mind as Jesus Christ. I know peace doesn’t come from the outside, but comes only from You inside me. Help me look inward for peace and not wait for my circumstances to be settled to be at peace. I do not want to be ruled by the circumstances around me…I want to be ruled and guided by Your Holy Spirit. I pray in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus; and all God’s children said - AMEN!

The Truth
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Philippians 2:5

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13