Category Archives: Attitudes & Behavior

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April 26, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Salvation: A New You

SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE

All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. [1 Corinthians 9:25 (NLT)]

Yesterday’s news included the story of a Major League baseball player caught blatantly cheating; unfortunately, it is an all too common occurrence. It’s not just pitchers using pine tar, but also Olympic sprinters using steroids, champion cyclists blood doping, baseball players using performance enhancing drugs, athletes taking money to throw games, and NFL football players accepting money to deliberately hurt opposing players. Back in 1980, a Boston marathon runner even took the subway just to win the race!

This got me thinking about Louis Zamperini and his experience in the 1938 NCAA track championships. In Laura Hillenbrand’s book Unbroken, the author relates how Zamperini’s track opponents attempted to injure him during the race to keep him from winning. In spite of having a cracked rib, both shins punctured and one of his toes impaled by sharpened track spikes, Zamperini won, setting a new NCAA record, having run the mile in four minutes eight seconds.

These all were gifted athletes, among the best of the best, but that was not enough for them. Why were they not satisfied simply by doing their very best? What joy could possibly come from a win that is accomplished by cheating?

I’m not sure we’re all that different from some of these athletes; it’s just that we’re not in the limelight and our tactics might be a bit more subtle. Do we ever want to win an argument at all costs? Are we ever more interested in proving the other person wrong than in finding the right solution? Have we cut corners to give ourselves an unfair advantage? Does our sense of competition come from the desire to show someone else how weak they are? Has it become more important to defeat others rather than defeat what is weak within us?

Lord, help me defeat the enemy within. May I always meet my challenges with integrity. Run with me, Lord, run with me!

The Challenge is from within. The Opponent is yourself. The Reward is private. The Victory is having met the challenge! [Anonymous – seen on the back of a race event t-shirt]

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? [Mark 8:36 (NLT)]

 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. [2 Timothy 4:7-8a (NLT)]

 

 

 

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April 24, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Love & Works, Today: Make it Count

HOW TO TREAT OTHERS

Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. [2 Corinthians 13:11 (ESV)]

Heavenly Father, when you come to take me home, let there be no remorse about opportunities I’ve missed or things I’ve left undone. Guide me so that I leave no apologies unsaid, no forgiveness withheld, no kindness refused, no compassion unoffered, and no fences unmended. May your Holy Spirit help me to live a life of love, harmony and peace.

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. [Og Mandino]

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. [Matthew 7:12 (ESV)]

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April 14, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Love & Works

What’s Written on Our Hearts?

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. [2 Corinthians 3:3 (NLT)]

Paul wrote these words to the people of Corinth, but they still hold true today. What is written in our hearts? Does the way we behave reflect our faith? Do people know we are followers of Christ, not just by our words, but by our actions? Let’s be sure that what people read in our behavior is true to the word of God.

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-by and have a good day; stay warm and eat well” – but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds. [James 2:14-18 (NLT)]

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April 4, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior

WWJD?

Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. [Ephesians 5:1-2 (MSG)

Several years ago, silicone wristbands with the letters “WWJD” were popular, as were t-shirts and bumper stickers with the same message. An acronym for the phrase, “What would Jesus do?” these WWJD articles became popular among members of Christian youth groups. Although the items can still be purchased, they are no longer the fad they were more than a decade ago. The question, however, is not a fad; it is one we need to ask ourselves regularly. The answer to “What would Jesus do?” should be the determining factor whenever we make a decision.

In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. [Philippians 2:5 NCV]

 

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April 2, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, Prayer

Time for an “I” Exam

God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life. [Psalm 139:23-24 (NCV)]

Note to self: The Psalmist doesn’t ask God to examine anyone else’s heart or to fix anyone else’s soul, just his! Lord, keep me from expecting you to fix other people when I’m the one in need of repair.

Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. Psalm 51:10 (NCV)

 

 

 

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March 26, 2014

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Promises, Love & Works, Temptation & Sin, Today: Make it Count

What Goes Around, Comes Around

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. [Galatians 6:7 (NLT)]

This verse from Galatians makes me think of the character Larry David plays in the HBO comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Easily aggravated by the pettiest of annoyances, he inappropriately expresses his irritation at the drop of a hat. He can make a molehill into a mountain and will stop at nothing to prove his point. Having no filter and little consideration or compassion for others, he manages to aggravate and alienate nearly everyone around him. Inevitably, the person he has offended is exactly the person from whom he needs something later in the episode. That kind of behavior may make for good comedy but it is not the way to live our lives. What we sow in our actions, we will reap. Just as good deeds can bring a harvest of blessings, bad conduct brings a harvest of weeds. Let’s never get tired of doing what is generous, kind and good.

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. [Galatians 6:8-9 (NLT)]