Having a good attitude is a work in progress and Julie shares how it takes true effort and drawing close to the Lord regularly.
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky” (Philippians 2:14-15).
There is a favorite quote of mine from Pastor Charles Swindoll that says:
“I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope.”
A lot of our attitude to our station in life is our perspective of it. This is so important and key in how we handle our illness and pain. We can either look at it from God’s eyes and see the benefits that come from it, or we can have a life-long pity party and invite everyone to come along with us.
That’s not saying at times we won’t have moments of weakness and fall into the pity party scenario–especially on days when your body is weaker and it seems resolve is weaker, too. But we need to keep our attitude positive.
You can change your attitude by changing the way you think. If you think less and less about God by reading His Word less, praying to Him less, and just generally shutting Him out of your thoughts, the Spirit of God in you will diminish, and your attitude regarding your situation will go south.
But the opposite is also true. If you draw closer to Him and actually increase your time with Him, your whole perspective of what you are going through will change.
The absence of His presence is the absence of His peace!
Prayer: Oh, Lord! Some days it is so hard to have a good attitude! I need Your help on those days. Fill me with Your peace and joy. Help me to see my situation through your perspective. Amen.
About the author:
Julie Buckley was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease in 1995 (scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and polymyositis) along with fibromyalgia. She lives in the midwest with her husband and has a grown son. She also has a blog site called “Healthy Souls,” which encourages Christians to grow stronger through their physical weakness, http://jabuckle.wordpress.com/
What kinds of things do you use to counteract a bad attitude? Do you have a favorite Christian song you play, or a favorite verse?
This song, “Speak Life” by Toby Mac, is being played a lot on Sirius radio’s Christian channel and it is now one of those songs I turn up and sing along with! Life has been difficult lately–feeling the challenges coming from all directions, and this song has been a reminder to me of just how much God loves us and because of Him we can have hope… and speak LIFE! We don’t have to be worried about this life taking us down, because Jesus has already conquered it. Hoping it blesses you too. -Lisa
Chronic Illness Pain Daily Devotionals 