Attitudes Matter by Cody Peery

When you look at my schedule on any given week, you will notice that I generally tend to stay busy. On the first day of the week, my wife (Ashley) and I get up, get dressed, and head to worship with our brothers and sisters. Following morning worship, I normally teach a Bible class to our senior high Youth Group. After class, we go out to eat with our friends. Later that afternoon, we return to worship. Many Sunday nights, we go out with our youth group kids or just hang around the building talking with different members and visitors. Then there is Monday – my weekly “honey-do” day. This is the day I work around the house doing personal things that need to get done, and depending on the time, I may make a visit to a member in the hospital or participate in various ministerial things, but Monday is typically an “off” day. Tuesday through Friday I am in the office or running errands for the church from 10 am until 3pm. Night times you will find me supporting the youth at ball games, or attending different events with members of the congregation. Late at night I go to the gym with a few friends and work out. Saturdays are spent going to many different events and making final plans for Sunday. So my week (like many other Christians) is busy.

We live in a busy time and we are constantly busy doing things. Throughout our busy days, there is a common factor – we are generally around other people.

I would say on a normal day, I interact with 25+ people. Many of you may interact with way more that 25 people on a daily basis. Not only do I interact verbally with people, but there are many more people I interact with that I never speak a word to.

People are constantly observing us. They look at the way we talk as Christians, they look at the way we react as Christians, they look at the things we like as Christians, and they take special notice of our attitudes as Christians. WOW! What a tremendous thought! What a humbling thought! What a challenging thought! Have you ever considered the impact of your attitude?

I remember playing high school football growing up and I clearly remember having days when I had a poor attitude. I remember saying things like, “I hate practicing.” I remember saying things like, “this is stupid.” And, “I don’t want to do that.” I remember saying, “I cant do that.” And the list could go on, but all of those things I said stemmed from my attitude. The thing about our attitudes is that they are a personal choice. We get to determine our attitudes. That is important today for many reasons.

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” -Winston Churchill

Churchill made the statement that our attitudes are powerful. He pointed to the idea that attitudes matter. The thing that stands out to me is that he doesn’t say that only a positive attitude makes a big difference, he just said our attitude. Our personal reaction to everything in life will make a big difference and that can mean good, or bad. We can make the decision, and we hold the power to determine what kind of big difference we make.

Our attitudes are an extremely powerful catalyst that we must direct in the right way if we are going to glorify God. Our Attitudes truly matter. I want to share with you briefly a few places where our attitude make a big difference.

• Our attitude towards God
  • Ultimate Example – Jesus humbled himself to God, and His attitude show by obeying the will of God ( Philippians 2:8). Even though He didn’t want to die. He even asked not to. But since God said it had to be done he was obedient and held an attitude of positive trust that God knew best.
  • Our attitude towards God must show positive trust when things are good and when things are bad – when we understand, and even more when we don’t.
  • Our positive attitude towards God matters
• Our Attitude towards the Church
  • Ultimate example – Notice Christ’s attitude towards the Church as a bride. His other half. He loved his bride because he laid down his life for her so that he could sanctify her. Galatians 5:25-27 He wanted what was best for his bride.
  • He had an attitude that he was going to make the church better than it could ever be. We must hold this same attitude that the church is the best and that it is the bride of Christ. We cannot talk or act like it’s a burden to be a part of His body, but rather be thankful and grateful to be included.
  • Our Positive attitude towards the Church matters.
• Our attitude towards those outside of the Church
  • When we look at the ultimate example of Christ, we see His attitude about those who were lost. He came to seek and save them and treated them with love and respect.
  • Ex. The adulterous woman in John 8:7, “He who is without sin cast the first stone.” And notice that the conversions of Matthew and Zaccheus were based on Jesus’ attitude toward them.
  • Our positive attitude towards those outside the Church matters.

Conclusion:

“People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude” -Winston Churchill

We have a powerful influential catalyst that we can use to glorify God. How will we choose to use it? Our attitude really does matter.