The Impact of a Winning Attitude on the Christian Life
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“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Years ago, one of my family’s favorite TV shows was the Food Network’s smash hit, “Iron Chef America.” This cooking show pitted the best chefs from around the world in a test kitchen to see whose cuisine reigns supreme. Their challenge was to turn the “secret ingredient” of the week into a sumptuous, culinary masterpiece. Their skill was tested by their ability to be resilient, creative and think outside the box. Their success or failure depended on the secret ingredient.
The same is true of our lives. The success God wants us to enjoy is dependent upon how we incorporate the “ingredients” we find in the Bible into our everyday lives. We all have access to God and the wisdom of the Word, but is there a secret ingredient for success in life?
I believe God also expects us to have a winning attitude! As Philippians 4:13 tells us “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Our attitude and our life performance are unequivocally connected. Like the challengers on Iron Chef America, God wants us to be in it to win it!
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:24-25).
What Is Attitude?
Attitude can be sensed. Attitude can be seen. But attitude is sometimes hard to define. Basically, it’s an inward feeling expressed by outward behavior. It is the pout of a sulker and the jutted jaw of the determined.
When it comes to attitudes, cover-ups usually don’t last long. They are the advancement of the true self; their roots are inward but their fruits are outward.
Your attitude can be your best friend or your worst enemy. It can draw people in or repel people away from you. In the words of John Maxwell, your attitude is the librarian of your past, the speaker of your present and the prophet of your future! Many people claim attitude is everything, but quite frankly, that’s simply not true. All you need to do is watch an episode of American Idol.
Many of the contestants audition with great attitudes but never make it to Hollywood. They don’t actually have gifting or ability to sing, but they think so. The truth is, there is no attitude strong enough or positive enough to compensate for lack of skill.
Attitude is not everything, but it is a little thing that makes a big difference! If we want to change our life performance, we must change our attitudes to line up with what God says they should be.
If you say, I don’t like where I am in life, then change your attitude.
Or, I don’t like what I’m experiencing in life, then change your attitude.
Even, I don’t like the way people treat me, then change your attitude!
What’s a Winning Attitude Look Like?
“They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.’ … Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it’” (Numbers 13: 26-28, 30).
Who made it into the promised land? From that original group, only Joshua and Caleb. Because they had a winning attitude that said, I can do anything God says I can. They trusted in their powerful God. But what are the keys to developing a winning attitude? How do we get to the place where we are in it to win it?
God – Stay Close to Him
Christians often have the mistaken opinion that their attitude will automatically be good simply because they are Christians. I would suggest this, however: just hang around church a little while and the truth will be revealed! Christians are humans “in process,” and God is not finished with us yet.
For a scriptural illustration of this, remember the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The elder brother apparently thought he was doing everything right. He chose to stay home with his father and did not go sowing his wild oats. But when his younger brother finally came home, the reality of his bad attitude surfaced.
He is a perfect illustration for us. Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean that our attitude will automatically be good; we must intentionally stay close to God. When we do, He gently reminds us to make attitude adjustments along the way, to ensure that we maintain a winning attitude.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Translation: you’ve got to stay close to God in order to be able to do difficult things and maintain a winning attitude through the challenges that mess up our attitudes, like:
- Bad hair days
- Our kids and spouses
- Our sports teams losing
- Overtime and lack of sleep
- An unkind word or an unexpected injustice
- Too much month at the end of the money
Our attitudes are often fragile and the only shot we have to maintain a winning attitude is staying close to God.
Proximity – Watch Who You Hang With
One of the things we all know about attitude is that, whether good or bad, attitude can be “caught.” The great NY Yankee’s manager Casey Stengel said it this way: “On every team, you will have fifteen members that will love you, five that will hate you, and five that are undecided. Always room the losers together and their hate will not spread.”
Even in the account of Numbers 13, we see that attitude of the Hebrew spies was contagious.
“There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night” (Numbers 13:33-34:1).
It’s a fact – you can’t soar like an eagle if you’re always hanging around turkeys! Attitudes are contagious, so be careful who you hang out with.
Hang out with “God is able” people, hang out with “God will deliver me” people, solution-minded people, people who talk about the great things God is doing in His church, who clearly have winning attitudes, and you also will have a winning attitude.
Perspective – See Things Correctly
It’s critical to have a “this too shall pass” mentality. Circumstances are only temporary arrangements of life. The operative word being temporary.
We must remind ourselves when rough whether hits that it won’t last forever. This is an important key to having a winning attitude, because it’s not necessarily problems that challenge our attitude, it’s whether or not we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The good news is, with God there is always light at the end of the tunnel. David had this mentality and explained it to us:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
Obedience – Do What God Says
“Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or removes your relish for spiritual things – that is sin to you.” - Susanna Wesley, mother of John Wesley
There is no way to have a heavenly attitude when you’re living in disobedience to God and His word – it will eat you alive. It’s like the old John H. Sammis song says:
“Trust and obey, for there is no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”
(1887)
Thoughts – Think on Purpose
Remember Paul said, I can because God can (Philippians 4:13). But let’s look at what advice he gives us that led up to this declaration.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, 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” (Philippians 4:8).
In order to have a winning attitude that says “I can because God can,” we must think on purpose. Philippians 4:13 tells us what to think on, which means we can control what we think about. And if we will purposefully think on good things – like solutions instead of problems, deliverance not doom, and giants are too big to miss, not too big to defeat – we will naturally develop a winning attitude.
Failure – Process It Correctly
Some people live by the motto, “If at first you don’t succeed, destroy all the evidence that you’ve tried!”
When it comes to failure, we tend to hate it, hide it, ignore it or deny it, and most of all, fear it. But when we fear it, it will corrode our attitude.
I believe God wants us to understand that failure is not final. As Henry Ford said, “Failure is the ability to begin again more intelligently.”
Never forget God can fix your failures and even make you better off as a result of them (Romans 8:28). So expect God and His grace to make up for your weakness.
Choice – Realize You Get to Choose
The average person perceives that his circumstances are responsible for his attitude (good or bad). But which came first, the attitude, or the circumstances? For the average person it’s the circumstances. For the person who is blessed, it’s the attitude.
Having a winning attitude is actually a choice, one that some people are sadly not willing to make. And since our attitude is a key ingredient to having a successful life, in essence, we get to choose whether our life is blessed or not.
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
That’s how you have a winning attitude!
Friend, don’t walk around with an I can’t attitude or a woe is me attitude. Don’t walk around with your bottom lip on the ground. Never let adversity affect you on the inside.
Maintain a winning attitude, and watch your life soar!
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/RyanJLane
