Attitudes

Question: how is your attitude?

If we are not careful we can put on or have a bad attitude and we can go around very negative.  Negative people seem to have a lack of faith.

Think about Peter when he got out of the boat to walk to Jesus, he demonstrated a lot of faith!

Can you imagine Peter’s excitement when Jesus said to come to him on the water?  Peter showed faith and a positive attitude. His excitement level was "through the roof", so to speak, but then something happened, he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the winds and the waves and he started to sink.

Think about this~nothing had changed from the time he stepped out of the boat, no, everything was the same except for Peter’s attitude.  He became afraid, his faith level was very shallow and his excitement had vanished and he was in trouble and he began to sink.  It is amazing to think about how his attitude changed so quickly.  He had a great positive attitude one-minute and within ten minutes his attitude stunk.  What happened?  He allowed his thought pattern to get the best of him. You can find this story in Matthew chapter 14 verses 28–33.

How many times does this happen to us?  We get up in the morning with a positive attitude and before long our attitude changes for the worst.  Many times the only thing that changes is our perspective of what is happening at the time. Sometimes our attitude changes over a greater period of time because of circumstances and situations.  I want to say this, no matter what goes on in our lives our attitude can stay the same.

Our attitude changes because of the choices we make.  Over the years I’ve heard my kids say, "he or she gave me an attitude."  My question is, how can anyone give you an attitude?  Do they take it off and hand it to you?  No!  You receive whatever the person says or whatever is going on in your life at the time and then you form the attitude you are going to have.  It is your choice, no one can give anyone an attitude.

Attitudes are not caught they are taught and many times it will start with our kids. We can either teach our kids to be positive or negative, it is our choice.  Kids many times will mimic their parents.  Teaching our kids to be positive or negative is not only accomplished through the words we say but also, more often, by our actions.  Saying one thing and doing another speaks volumes to your kids.  We all have heard the old saying, "actions speak louder than words" which is very true.

The good news is we don’t have to have a bad attitude.  It is not easy, but we can choose to have a great positive attitude all the time.  We don’t have to let the way people treat us or our circumstances or situations dictate our responses or our attitude, no, we have a choice.  Praise God!  I hope you and I make the right choice.

P.S.  I am glad the Lord had me do this lesson because I definitely don’t have this perfected and I feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my life over my attitude. This is a good thing, with His help my attitude will get better.  Praise God!

God Bless you as you strive to have a better attitude!  And remember God is for you and not against you and He wants you to have a positive attitude and He will help you.  You reach up as high as you can and He will reach down the rest of the way to help you.  Praise God!