We all face challenges in life. To each of us, what we are facing can seem like something no one else has ever faced before. But a moment’s reflection will bring us back to reality. Not only have others faced what we have faced but people have faced things much worse and survived. Victor Frankl survived being imprisoned in a Nazi death camp during WWII. He learned that attitude is critical to survival. “We who lived in concentration camps can remember men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread … They offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” Freedom is rooted in the power of choice. In those times when many choices have been taken from us, we must learn to focus on the choices we have left. We can choose the attitude we bring with us. If we don’t work to adjust our attitudes in a more positive direction, we can end up disappointed or discouraged. Dallas Willard writes, “I meet many faithful Christians who, in spite of their faith, are deeply disappointed in how their lives have turned out ... often, due to circumstances or wrongful decisions and actions by others, what they had hoped to accomplish in life, they did not.” Phil. 4:8 provides some helpful advice in this regard, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” How we live, why we live and the manner in which we live is shaped by the attitude we choose. Choose well. This is how we raise the bar on our discipleship.
- RevDrGeraldWatford