Churchill

Attitude’s Cradle of Forgiveness

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ForgivenessWinston Churchill was right when he said, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”  For better or worse, your attitude has life-changing potential.

Some people have never looked at life through rose-colored glasses; instead, they seem to be prone to a negative bias. On the other hand, there are some who find the silver-lining in every cloud.  The difference between the two is Churchill’s little thing.

This is even true with the way people read the Bible.  Some people are more apt to see a negative theme when a verse is every bit as ripe with a positive principle.

A case in point is the New Testament principle of sowing and reaping. Stated in a few words it says that you will reap what you sow. Far too many people try to put just a negative emphasis on this passage when it is positively pregnant with potential.

Newton’s cradle is a good demonstration of the principle of sowing and reaping.  Newton posited that “action and reaction are equal and opposite.”  When one ball is released (action), a ball from the opposite side swings out in equal distance (reaction).

Jesus used this principle in a discussion of forgiveness:  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke 6:38).

How much different would your world be if you retrained your attitude to focus instead of the negative?

I encourage you to begin this week by sowing the positive seeds of kindness and giving the gift of forgiveness to those who have wounded you.  Ralph Waldo Emerson said:  What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

What is it that lies within you?  It’s your attitude and the potential to love others as Christ loves you.  I encourage you to give some thought to Paul’s exhortation to the church at Rome:

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody. Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.” Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good (The Message).

The Certainty of Adversity

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Life is an experience of one lesson after another. Some of these lessons come from the school of hardknocks.  I know there have been times in my life when I felt like I was a student at the University of Adversity.

Even though I loathe the times that I have endured the trials and heartaches of life, I know such experiences have taught me valuable lessons.  I made the comment this past Sunday, that success goes to the head, but trials bring us to our knees.  It is when we are on our knees that we lean on God and learn from heartache.

Let me share a couple of quotes concerning adversity:

Zig Ziglar:  We need adversity, difficulty, struggle, conflict, and resistance on our way to success to make us strong enough to take that success for with it comes issues the weak cannot withstand.

Helen Keller:  Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved. Silver is purified in fire and so are we. It is in the most trying times that our real character is shaped and revealed.

Abraham Lincoln:  Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.

The prophet Jeremiah was experiencing a tremendous amount of persecution when God spoke to him:  If you have raced against others on foot, and they have tired you out,  how can you compete with horses?    If you stumble in open country,  how can you live in the jungle along the Jordan River?   Even your relatives and members of your father’s household betray you.   They have also formed a mob to find you.   Don’t trust them when they say good things about you  (Jeremiah 12:5-6).

The lesson in Jeremiah is that we should not worry about the struggles and trials of the future until we learn to manage the stress of the present.  Don’t waste your energy worrying about a potential problem in the future; instead, focus your strength on the present reality.

If, however, your are compelled to focus on the future, do it within the framework of Romans 8:18:   I consider our present sufferings insignificant compared to the glory that will soon be revealed to us. 

I’ll wrap this up with one more quote that I hope will be enough to keep you thinking:  Difficulties mastered are opportunities won –Winston Churchill

Riddles and Such

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I spent many childhood hours in the tiny town of Sallyards.  My grandparents were some of the last people to live in this almost forgotten spot in the oil patch.

One of my vivid memories is of a black cocker spaniel.  Hardly a Summer went by that he wasn’t snake bit, and every time I visited he entertained me with the perplexing habit of chasing his tail.  I never figured out why he did it, but I never tried to get him to stop it because I laughed every time I watched him do it.

At the time, I had no idea who Winston Churchill was, but a quote of his defined the tail-chasing display.  Churchill said:  It’s a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma.

As I’ve wandered through life, I’ve come to wonder about several things:

  • Why can you put 2 socks in the dryer, but only 1 comes out?
  • How can a black cow eat green grass and give white milk?
  • Does eating natural foods cause you to die a natural death?
  • If an illiterate person eats alphabet soup, does he know what he is eating?

Even Solomon, the wise sage of the Old Testament, found life to be perplexing:  Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14).

The same gold and silver that garnished Solomon’s life tarnished his wisdom and life became meaningless.  His worldly affection was somewhat of a genetic infection. In a like father like son scenario, he nearly succumbed to the seductive power of the world.  His father David wrote:  But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.  For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73).

After much thought and consideration, Solomon realized there is no lasting happiness apart from the living God.  He ended Ecclesiastes with these words:  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil (Eccl. 12).

Here’s a thought to keep you thinking:  If you spend your life running in circles, you’ll travel a familiar path, but you won’t get far.  You may end up like Solomon–dizzy and disoriented.