27 February 2008 Devotion for Today “Attitude is Everything” Philippians 2:5-8

27 February 2008 Devotion for Today “Attitude is Everything” Philippians 2:5-8

Lewis Timberlake, in his book, Born to Win, writes as he was driving through North Carolina on his way to a speaking engagement. As he neared the town where he was scheduled to speak there was a sign posted at the city limits which read: “We hear there’s a recession coming. We’ve decided not to participate!” Timberlake commented on the sign, “I like that positive attitude in the negative society we live in!”

Someone once said, “Attitude is everything.” Its true. Attitude is also a choice that we make in how we are going to respond to the events of the day. Someone with a negative attitude will find something wrong in the greatest blessings he has been given. The expensive car he bought will have something wrong with it. The half-million dollar home will be too costly to repair. His family will get on his nerves. On the other hand, you can give a shoe-box filled with horse manure to the person with a positive attitude and when they open it they will be excited because they just know that there’s a pony around

There somewhere if he can only find him! It depends upon our focus, and if the attitude of our heart is not right, we will lose that focus.

The Apostle Paul tells us that there is little excuse for a Christian not to have the proper focus, or the right attitude. Jesus Christ is all the inspiration for keeping the right attitude that anyone will ever need. He tells us in Philippians 2:5-8 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Its true that you may have had to go through some terrible things and perhaps your callous, negative focus of life might be justified. But have you gone to the cross, lately? When you think about all that

Christ gave up to become human like us, and then to die for the likes of us- if anybody ever had reason to complain and to be bitter, it was Him. But He did not respond that way. He took it that death as graciously as He had lived, and continues to share that power with us.

May I make a correction to the statement I quoted earlier when I said, “Attitude is everything.” Attitude is almost everything unless you have Jesus and have appropriated His attitude in your life.

Have a blessed day!