… to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
Summary: The secular version of having a “positive attitude” is usually motivated by secular benefits. It is a way of controlling what happens in the world around us. Christianity uses a similar technique for very different reasons and with different results.
When I was younger and trying to find my way in life, I frequently dabbled in the world of sales. Being a salesman (or “salesperson” in the parlance of our current culture) offers an opportunity to translate enthusiasm and energy into cash. It is the ideal “do it yourself” business opportunity. It requires a minimal investment of time and money “up front” and promises unlimited opportunity for riches on the back side.
The “secret” of success in sales was said to be attitude. If you had the right attitude, the sky was the limit. Nothing could stand in your way. Success was all but guaranteed. Over the years that I dabbled in this business I learned many things. One of the things I learned was that the “right attitude” was hard to come by.
Life is hard, and if being in sales offers unlimited opportunity for success, it also offers the same unlimited opportunity for hardship. Not just any hardship either. The kind of pain salespeople are subjected to is very personal. It can be a degrading and humiliating experience.
I share this information as an illustration of “mind over matter.” Some people believe if they set their minds to it, they can accomplish anything. What they often forget is to tally the costs associated with achieving their goals. Putting one’s ambition above everything else in life leaves behind a path strewn with the wreckage of broken relationships and emotional and personal destruction.
The reason I mention this is there is a disturbing similarity between Paul’s “new” attitude of the mind and secular admonitions to develop a “right attitude” for success.
Is there a difference?
The answer to that question is “Yes.” The difference has to do with why we endeavor to put our mind over matter and why we take control of our attitude.
Salesmen are motivated by numbers. The number of sales made, the number of dollars sold, and the number of commission dollars received. Ultimately, salespeople are motivated by self-interest. (This is not to say that a Christian cannot be a good salesperson! Please read on …)
Christians are motivated by Christ. We are motivated by a fear of eternity without Christ and eternal gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Because of this gratitude for being saved from something more horrible than we can imagine, we choose to exercise the same “mind over matter” common in sales. We choose to control our attitude and behave in a way that honors Jesus.
How does Jesus want us to behave? The Bible, God’s Word, explains:
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Jesus himself put it this way:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind .…[and] … Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22: 37-39)
The motivation of a Christian is as far from the salesman’s as can be. The Christian puts God and others before self. Sales is a hard business when you are always looking out for the best interests of the customer. Life is hard whether you are in sales or not. Yet, life as a Christian is different. Paul says, “be made new in the attitude of your minds.” The burden is not entirely on our own shoulders. We are children of God. Not a god made by human hands or imagined by the human mind, but the Living God that created us and everything that exists.
Application: Submit to God’s will and allow him to make you new.
Food for Thought: Changing our attitude requires effort. What are some of the benefits of adopting a Christian attitude?
What are some of the benefits of adopting a Christian attitude?
Luke 18:18-22
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
Alot of attitudes there: the man wanted a return on his investment. Jesus said give without expectation. Trust in God, not in your abilities. Jesus wanted the man to give himself, not of himself.
I understand this man because I have fought with this man, yesterday and today. I believe the attitude Paul wants for us is keeping humility in truth in the forefront of our minds, and openness to others outside of ourselves. For God, our openness is bowing before Him and His Son, asking for, recieving, and applying the Holy Spirit to our lives. For others, it is giving of ourselves as Christ gave to us. Without reservation.
I do believe what you wrote is true, attitude matters. It is a fine line to walk. One can give expecting something in return, or one can give out of love. It is so hard to give something away, to not want a return, but to say “it is a gift and what you do with it is up to you.” At the heart of it, it is exactly what God did for us, what Christ did for us.
When you accept Christ as your Lord, there are expecations. Not so much because you “signed a contract,” but because you told God you want a relationship with Him. Everything from that point is God guiding you to that. Giving you the desire of your heart. you begin to understand all the barriers to that. The cost is everything, but the everything is nothing. Submission starts with the willingness to submit. It grows to submitting as God wants, giving away the barriers to a purer walk with Him.
The attitude is giving, as Christ gave. The benefits are a relationship with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The very creator of everything. Imagine a time in heaven when there will be no barrier, when you will always be in His presence. What small samples of that we can have here on Earth only come in our willingness to submit.
Peace. Not peace as an output. Peace that is God, living in us.
Chris,
Peace is absolutely a BIG benefit! It is something that the world or flesh cannot offer. It is real and at the same time ethereal. (Maybe a better word is ‘unworldly.’) Thank you!
07-10-2023, Changing our attitude requires effort. What are some of the benefits of adopting a Christian attitude?
Jesus tells us, We cannot serve both God and material things, we are to come to Him and He will give us rest.
Matthew 6:24, Matthew 11:28,
The redemption’s process in our lives has been made possible through what Christ through His death, burial and resurrection has already done. The conviction of the Holy Spirit brings the power required for our transformation, sanctification, and, of course, the Spirit breathes through the God’s Word, which is living, active, judging the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, and the ways of pleasing to our God.
Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 55:8
We begin the process of changing from being a self righteous person, (one serving self) to becoming a Christ centered, (serving others) living the a lifelong process of dieing to self, and receiving the transforming, sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit who will do unto others what we would have them do to us.
Matthew 7:12
At some point we commit ourselves to a life of repentance. A willingness to immediately accept correction on a moment-to-moment basis in our walk with Christ in the conviction of Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelling in us will affirm our actions with God’s ways, and will automatically, immediately signal us with an internal sense of His conviction. Our response, a change of mind, a change in course will be presented and we make a mid-course adjustment at that moment. We are in the middle of a sentence, and if we are wrong, we stop. It is not by some climactic moment of “full sanctification,” but rather a process—the moment-to-moment, sanctifying work of the Spirit.
To abide in Christ is a choice to intentionally remain in an ever-growing relationship with Him that day by day, moment by moment, transforms our character to be more like His. Abiding in Christ means not giving up, but continuing on in spite of our doubts or hardships. Abiding in Christ means allowing God to work through us to transform us so that He can transform others through us. Abiding in Christ means is the power to live in peace in the midst of Insanity, Chaos.
Ron,
Thank you! It sounds like a ‘benefit’ of a Christian attitude is having a very functional approach to life. Instead of living in denial with all the associated pain that brings, the Christian lives in a state of open-eyed realism about who and what we are. In addition we have the benefit of walking with our Creator, who lives in us and guides us, providing for our needs when we are in need.
You summarize this very well. We are blessed to have been called and today walk with our creator.