March, 2003 "Attitude Change"

There is so much of life that I think we sail through without even thinking about it. Even as Christians, we tend to go on our way, not even considering the question, “Is it God’s way?” One of my favorite passages of scripture is from Philippians 2. It talks about the attitude of humility that we should be cultivating in our hearts and lives – and believe me, we must work at it for it does not come naturally.

Paul writes in verse 2 that we are to have the love of God in our hearts and be one in spirit and purpose. He goes on in verse 3 to say “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

Then verses 5-11 are so beautiful. They speak of the fact that Jesus, Who was God in His very nature humbled Himself, and made Himself nothing and took on the nature of a servant. He became obedient to death on a Cross. Therefore, God exalted Him. And it all brought glory to God, the Father.

Oh, I so desire my life to be like Jesus…to humble myself, take on the nature of a servant, and willingly obey even to die to all of my desires and prideful aspirations so that God would be glorified through me.

There is so much in the Kingdom of God that seems to contradict itself. This is one of those principles. Proverbs 29:23 points it out. “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” We so often think we have to promote ourself, to point out all that is great and wonderful about “me.”

But Jesus said it so well when his disciples were fighting over who would sit next to Him in Heaven. He said in Matthew 20:23-28 that “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

I don’t know how you feel when you read this, but something in me rises up that wants to take preeminence over this philosophy. I, like Jesus’ disciples, feel that maybe I am not to be included in this truth because I am better or different. Now, most of us wouldn’t really go around thinking that out loud, but our lives show that we feel this way by our actions and attitudes towards others.

I participate in a wonderful ministry called the Red Mountain House of Prayer, based on the Kansas City model of 24/7 prayer and praise directed by Mike Bickle. (Information can be found at www.rmhop.com and www.fotb.com.) Well, the last few times I have been to the ministry, I have been convicted by a chart that is hanging on the wall there. I do not have a reference for the chart as to where it came from or who created it (if you recognize it and know the author, please write me so I can give proper credit), but I wanted to share it with you for your meditation and as a helpful tool for the attitude change that the Lord desires for us to cultivate.

You see, David understood the “ways of God” as he said in Psalm 51:17. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

If you desire also to incorporate this Godly attitude into your life, may I suggest that you copy this chart and put it somewhere that you can pray over one example per day and ask the Lord to change your heart attitude accordingly.

The Lord Himself says in Isaiah 66:2, “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My word.”

Can you imagine, God Himself says He will esteem you? Wow, now that creates the fear of the Lord in me.

PROUD, UNBROKEN PEOPLE	HUMBLE, BROKEN PEOPLE
Focus on the failure of others	Overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need
Look down on others	Esteem all others better than self
Maintain control; must be their way	Surrender control
Claim rights	Yield rights
Desire to be served	Motivated to serve others
Driven to be recognized/appreciated	Content to fit in; thrilled to be used at all; eager for others to get credit
“The ministry is privileged to have me”	“I don’t deserve to serve in this ministry”
Feel confident in how much they know	Humbled by how much they have to learn
Keep people at arm’s length	Risk getting close to others; willing to take the risk of loving intimately
Unapproachable	“Easy to be entreated”
Self-righteous; critical, fault-finding spirit; look at their own life/faults through a telescope, but at others’ with a microscope	Compassionate; forgiving; look for the best in others
Independent/self-sufficient spirit	Interdependent spirit; recognize need for others
Have to prove that they are right	Willing to yield the right to be right
Demanding spirit	Giving spirit
Desire for self-advancement	Desire to promote others
Wounded when others are promoted	Rejoice when others are lifted up; don’t react when overlooked
Think of what they can do for God	Know that they have nothing to offer God
Self-conscious	Not concerned with self at all
Quick to blame others	Accept personal responsibility; acknowledge when they are wrong
Defensive when criticized	Receive criticism with a humble, open heart
Concerned with being “respectable”	Concerned with being real
Work to maintain image/protect reputation	Die to own reputation
Want to be sure nobody finds out about their sin	Willing to be exposed (once broken, they don’t care who knows; nothing to lose
When confessing sin, deal in generalities	Deal in specifics
Remorseful over their sin when caught/found out	Repentant over sin (forsake it)
Compare themselves with others, and feel deserving of honor	Compare themselves to the holiness of God and feel a desperate need for mercy
Don’t think they need revival (think everybody else does)	Continually sense their need for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit
Concerned with what others think	All that matters is what God knows
Find it difficult to share their spiritual needs with others	Willing to be open and transparent with others
Have a hard time saying, “I was wrong.  Will you please forgive me?”	Quick to admit failure and seek forgiveness
Concerned about the consequences of their sins	Grieved over the cause, or root of their sins
When there is a misunderstanding or conflict, wait for the other to come ask forgiveness	Take the initiative to be reconciled; see if they can get to the cross first
Don’t think they have anything to repent of	Continual heart attitude of repentance

Beloved, let the Holy Spirit give you this continual heart attitude of repentance, humility and brokenness before Him. Let’s ask Him together, right now. Will you pray with me?

“Father in Heaven, I ask You to create in me a new heart. Give me a contrite spirit. Cause me to submit my attitudes to You and Your word so that You can change me into the image of Jesus. I desire to have you fulfill Philippians 2 in my life. I want to have the same attitude as Jesus had. Make me Your servant. Help me to humble myself in Your sight. Above all else I want to glorify You in all that I do and think and say and pray. Father, You are so good and loving and kind. Produce your fruit in me so that I also may be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I know that I can submit Myself to You because of Your great love for me. I can trust You, Father, because I know that You have only the perfect best planned for me and You are well able to produce holiness and fruits of righteousness in my life. I am excited to be filled by the power of Your Holy Spirit so that I can walk out this commitment to You today. I thank You and love You. Amen.”

Be blessed, dear ones, as you undertake this journey.

L.O.V.E., Patty

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