Attitude Check!?
Now you respond with “Praise the Lord!”
This is something that my Pastor has passed down to me for children’s church. He recommended that when the kids are getting unruly or distracted to shout “Attitude Check!” Then their response (which becomes faster the more you do it) is “Praise the Lord!”
Last night I was driving home pretty late at night. I was driving on a long, not so busy, highway, minding my own business, listening to Toby Mac super loud when all of the sudden this car zoomed past me, then another, then another, then 3 motorcycles. They couldn’t get too far because there were a few other cars around me. They got dangerously close to the other cars, swerved around them and got in front of everyone. Once they were in front, the two main cars slowed waaaaay down… about 30mph below the speed limit. Then all of the sudden they took off, racing.
My first thought was “Ugh, I wish there was a cop nearby to pull them all over!” Then I began thinking about… what if there was an accident? As a nurse, I would have to (want to) stop. I thought about this scenario and how would I respond? I would likely jump out of the car, get to the injured person and say “See what happens when you drive like that?!?!!? You shouldn’t have been driving like that! Shouldn’t have been racing!” All the while saving this poor kid’s life (yes, active imagination… I know, I know…) but making them all feel guilt and shame and accusing them to anyone who would listen the entire time.
As I was thinking about all this the Lord reminded me about how we have been working on my attitude lately……………………. After all, I did tell Him I want to be like Jesus…
So, the Lord asked “How have I responded to you? When you have done wrong and have deliberately disobeyed laws, then you ‘crash’ or finally see the error… How have I responded? Did I respond with accusations and should have, shouldn’t have, guilt, shame, condemnation? No. I am love.”
Insert the sound of a crowd saying “ooohhhhhh buuurrrnnnn” ………
Romans 5:8 says:
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Did Jesus have an attitude about it? Nope. Did Jesus struggle with it? Yes (Matthew 26:39). But ultimately He did what the Father asked Him to do. Do we struggle with this? Obviously, I did… But will I praise the Lord or grumble about it? Jesus showed us the way, we should follow His example of love, of attitude. While you and I were still in our sin, still with our backs to God, He sent His Son, His One and Only Son to die on a cross, to bear our sins, to bear our shame, and die for us.
Philippians 2:5 says:
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:”
Who does it help to respond or react with accusations or defense? We have one accuser. The enemy. We decide whose example we will follow:
God = Love
devil = accuser
This is just a physical example of a spiritual principle. Does this mean if someone is not doing right or is blatantly sinning we just let it go? No! But watch your attitude! Watch how you respond! As you respond in Love, what does this do for your witness? If you constantly respond with accusations or with a bad attitude, do you think people will want what you have? If Jesus had come to earth and been accusatory toward everything the people were doing, do you think He would have had the same response? Show people the Love of Christ. Lead in love.
As Pastor Evans would say:
ATTITUDE CHECK!?
We can choose to respond with silence, groans, mumbles, OR a resounding PRAISE THE LORD!
I choose to praise the Lord!
I choose to take captive every thought and attitude, check myself!
I want to be like Jesus.
Jesus = God
God = Love!
Respond in Love!
As you respond in Love, what does this do for your witness? If you constantly respond with accusations or with a bad attitude do you think people will want what you have? If Jesus had come to earth and been accusatory toward everything the people were doing, do you think He would have had the same response? The people already crucified him, that may have been expedited a bit had his attitude been different.