Christian Living

A Godly Attitude

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
12/02/20
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“Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:3)

In our Sunday school class, we are studying the eighth chapter of Romans. That chapter is considered the sparkling in the jewel of the book of Romans. This past week while studying verse two, we discovered some interesting truths about our human nature. Human nature reveals to others who we are. Our human nature is revealed by our words, thoughts, emotions, intentions, and attitudes. In the beginning, before the fall in the garden, our human nature was in harmony with God our Creator. After the fall, our human nature was corrupted by our now inherent sin nature. All of us were once worldly, and it was revealed to all others by our dominating sin nature. It affected and polluted our words, thoughts, emotions, intentions, and attitudes. The point is, people will know us by the attitude that we display towards them. A lot of people wear masks, but the truth will always come to light.

As we look at this verse in Corinthians, Paul teaches us our attitudes present the letter of our life to those who come into our path. So the question is, what letter do you present before other people, what attitude is on display, and what does that display teach others about you? Jesus issued this command when He called us. “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19) Jesus wants us to get out of the boat and walk on the water fishing for lost souls in the sea of life. Do people see this in us? Do they know that the Lord is our refuge? Can they come to you and learn Jesus is the rock? They should see it in your letter or attitude. We are to be the letter of Christ on display to all men in the prayer and hope that they will see Jesus living in us and be drawn to Him. This is the letter of Christ. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

The Pastor for the past few weeks has been teaching us through Paul’s letter to the Philippians. As we have gone through his teaching, we can see that Philippians has a lot to say about Christ’s letter that should be displayed by our nature. As fishers of men, we are the model that attracts people to the gospel of Jesus, as Paul exhorts. “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” (Philippians 1:27)

Life is filled with trials, tribulation, and temptations. It is no different because we are followers of Jesus, which may even be worse for us. We cannot allow these unexpected disruptions, frustrations, or difficulties to keep us from responding with a Christ-like attitude. We cannot allow doubt to pollute our faith in Jesus and His Word. We are to be like-minded with our Lord and have the same attitude as He does. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)

Jesus humbled Himself and became a human just like us, and in all His relationships, He displayed selflessness. This is the attitude that Paul is teaching us to have. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 5:1-2) We are the children of God, and we should have the same attitude that we had towards our parents and role models. As children, we should love to imitate and repeat what we have heard them say. As God’s children, we are to reflect the image that we were created in, the image of our Lord. This is the way that others will know who our Lord and Savior is. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

As we read through the gospels, we see that in all the situations that Jesus found Himself in, He always kept a perfect attitude in every one of them. A key to this victory is that Jesus often went off by Himself and prayed to the Father. In Billy Graham’s book “Just as I Am,” he prayed for many hours before each time he approached the pulpit. Jesus was always in communication with His Father. He did nothing that was not His Father’s will. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 6:38)

When Jesus faced His trials, He was patient. In times of His suffering, He kept His heart set upon the hope before Him. When the times of blessing came, He was not arrogant but humble. When He was threatened with ridicule, abuse, and hostility, He did not try to retaliate. Jesus entrusted Himself to the Father, who judges justly. “While being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.” (1 Peter 2:23)

Having the same attitude as Jesus does not come naturally to us. We grew up in the world and have taken on the world’s attitude. We have the inherent sin nature, which has corrupted our human nature. Without an eternal perspective in our life, it becomes all about ourselves and then others if we like them. As followers of Jesus, we are to surrender our worldly attitude and take on His attitude by renewing our mind in the Holy Spirit’s power. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) To the natural man, this seems foolish, it makes no sense, and it is not the way to get ahead in this world.

As Big T reminds me all the time, “we are not of this world.” We are citizens of the Kingdom of God and His ambassadors in this world. Therefore, we should have the same attitude as our King and reflect His rule in our lives. People of the world should know that we love God first and our neighbor with that love that He has given to us. This is the new attitude that Jesus calls us to have in our relations with the people of this world. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)

To become the Godly attitude we were created to have and protect our letter of Christ within us, we need to take on and have the same attributes as our Lord Jesus. We need to display in our lives the “Beatitudes of Jesus. (Matthew 5:1-12) If His Spirit is leading us, then we will have the fruits of the Spirit in our life. (Galatians 5:22-23) God is Love; this is how people will know God and that God’s Spirit is in us. We need to discipline ourselves to that love found in 1 Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 13)

Then we will have the right attitude towards God and others. Then we will be the Letter of Christ reflecting His attributes and drawing others to Him through us. Our lives will be casting the perfect bait to become fishers of men for Christ. We will have the right character for an effective and productive life. “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, August 14, 2018