Matthew 22:37 – NKJV
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
An attitude can be described as a settled way of thinking or feeling concerning something or someone. Our attitudes thus create our perceptions, affecting our feelings and behaviour toward something or someone. Attitudes are built based on the information we have received and believed.
As believers, our attitudes determine the quality and effectiveness of our service to God.
Have you ever asked yourself what attitudes you have toward God? First and most important, what kind of love do we have toward God? Jesus tells us that we must love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and souls. This means loving him with the whole of who we are, it is giving him the first place in our life. How we love God will determine how we will serve him. If our love is conditional, then we will serve him conditionally and only when it’s convenient.
What attitude do you have concerning God’s sovereignty? Do you believe that he is the all-mighty, all-powerful all-knowing God and that he has a good plan for your life? It’s your attitude towards that will determine your faith and trust in God. Shadrach Meshack and Abednego were willing to be thrown into the fiery furnace rather than bowing down to the image the king had created because of the attitude they had about the God they served. They had faith that God was powerful enough to save them from the fire, they also trusted that he would save them.
Their conviction was so strong that they believed that even if God chose not to save them, he was still the one true God worthy of their worship, and they would rather die than bow to an idol. Their attitude towards God determined their response to the king. The Bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. The three Hebrew boys had faith that pleased God that he came to their rescue.
What about your attitude toward God’s goodness? The Bible tells us to taste and see that the Lord is good. Have you tasted and experienced his goodness? When you have the wrong attitude toward God’s goodness, then you will not have a heart filled with thanksgiving. We are to give thanks always to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, they had the wrong attitudes toward God.
They did not believe in his goodness and his plan for them, even though God kept displaying his goodness and reminding them of his love for them and the good plan he had for them as a people. Because of their wrong attitudes, they kept murmuring and complaining and at every opportunity, they strayed and worshipped other gods because they did not have the right attitudes toward God. Which comes easier for you, giving thanks or complaining faith that God is able, or doubt and anxiety?
The attitudes you have toward God will determine how you will serve him.
Reflections
- Do you love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul? How, explain
- Put yourself in the three Hebrew boys’ situation. What would your response have been? Do you have faith and trust in God’s ability?
- Which one do you more, complaining and murmuring or giving thanks? Why?
