The Right Attitude
‘If anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.’
Philippians 4:8 NIV
We all need an ‘attitude adjustment’ from time to time. It’s crucial that we maintain the right attitude when life gets tough. We need to be determined that we’ll go through whatever comes our way with the right attitude. If we decide in the good times that we’re going to work on maintaining our attitude through all situations, we’ll be prepared to put it into action in the bad times. Paul wrote, ‘whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things’ (vv.8 NIV). It’s not always going to be easy to think this way. When things are going wrong, it can be easy to let negativity fill our minds. But when we start to let negative thoughts in, we then act from those thoughts, and we can make the atmosphere around us negative too. It can be challenging to change things when we get to this stage. Maintaining the right attitude is always much easier than regaining the right attitude. So as soon as we sense ourselves becoming negative, it’s important that we make an immediate attitude adjustment. The Bible says: ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7 NIV). The moment the enemy sends negative thoughts into our mind, let’s stop them in their tracks by recognising that they’re negative and replacing them with positive, godly thoughts. The Bible tells us to ‘take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). So let’s discipline ourselves to stand strong with a positive attitude in every circumstance. Then we’ll experience God’s peace, and we’ll have the strength to make it through whatever we’re facing. What Now? Next time you experience a negative thought about a situation, write it down. Then think about how you could change it to be a thought which lines up with Philippians 4:8-9. Write down the new positive thought about the situation.