Two
men were walking along a path in the woods. The first man walked with his head
down, staring at the ground before him. As he walked, he complained about the
path. It was too dusty and rutted. It was full of rocks that hurt his feet and
roots that tripped him and caused him to stumble. The second man walked with
his head held high. As he walked, his eyes were scanning the trees and the sky.
He celebrated the beauty of the day. He rejoiced in the way that the rays of the
sun filtered through the leaves of the trees, bathing the path in soft green
light. He marveled at the birds soaring in the sky and the squirrels skittering
along the branches of the trees. Both men were in exactly the same environment,
but with very different experiences.
Our
attitude shapes the way we view life. If we have a positive attitude, we will
approach life positively. If we have a negative attitude, we will approach life
negatively. Our attitude affects more than just our emotions. It affects our
physical and spiritual health.
Recent
studies among elderly people discovered that a person’s attitude toward aging
dramatically affects their experience. Senior adults who see getting older as
becoming useless, helpless or devalued were less likely to seek preventative
medical care, more likely to suffer memory loss and poor physical functioning,
and more likely to die earlier. Senior adults who viewed getting old as a time
of wisdom, self-realization, and satisfaction functioned at a significantly
higher level. They were 44% more likely to fully recover from a physical set
back and, on average, lived 7.5 years longer than their peers.
Long
before researchers began studying the effects of our attitude, the Bible
instructed us to raise our mental sights to a higher level. We are encouraged
to adjust our attitude to reflect our gratitude and commitment to God. We are
called to elevate our thinking above the circumstances of life and see the one
who transcends those circumstances.
It
is not surprising that we live in a world filled with discouragement and
depression. In the Western world, we are experiencing the highest standards of
living in human history, yet we are depressed. The reason is that when we leave
God out of the equation, when there is no transcendent truth that goes beyond
our physical world, there is no hope. If life is a closed system, as some
believe, then life is reduced to an equation of diminishing returns.
The
Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us a different perspective on life. Life ceases to
be closed ended and diminishing, and becomes open ended and expanding. The
promise of Christ is eternal life. That does not just mean long life, it means
full and fulfilling life. In Colossians 3:1-2 Paul encourages us to stop
focusing on a finite world and start celebrating our new life in Christ. Since, then, you have been raised with
Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right
hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
What
we choose to focus on shapes our perspective and our attitude. What we focus on
becomes a filter through which we see all of life. If we focus on all of the
negative things going on in our world, the world becomes a very dark and scary
place. We become discouraged and defeated. Our negative attitude effectively
blocks out all the positive things in our world. Yet, stop and think. Is
everything in the world bad, dark, foreboding? NO! There is beauty, compassion,
kindness, creativity all around us, if we have the eyes to see it. Paul
challenges us to do that very thing. Finally,
brothers, 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
The default
attitude of our world is negative. It is clear in the headlines in the
newspaper, the stories on the evening news and the home pages on the internet.
Negative images far outweigh positive ones. Satan is the ultimate terrorist,
and he is doing a great job causing us to live in fear. If we are going to
change our attitude toward life and our world, it will take intentional effort
on our part. We will need to start viewing our world through a different set of
filters, godly filters that see things from God’s perspective. So Paul
challenges us to stop being passive and start taking control of our attitude. We demolish arguments and every pretension
that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
King
David lived in a hard world. He often struggled with discouragement. But, David
knew how to adjust his attitude. In Psalm 103, he challenges himself to reflect
upon all that God had done for him. His challenge hold true for us as well. Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost
being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his
benefits-- Psalm 103:1-2
As
Paul reflected upon his life, he saw things from an eternal perspective. He
could have become discouraged and depressed by all that he suffered. Instead,
he saw everything that he had experienced as a part of his journey toward
something far greater, some of much greater value. Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on
what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
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