A is for Attitude
by Dan MacLeod
August 30, 2024 · New Life Terre Haute (New Life Fellowship)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Philippians 2:14-15, Numbers 14:24, 1 Peter 5:8-9, John 10:10, Ephesians 4:27, 1 Peter 5:5-6, Ephesians 4:23, Philippians 2:3-5

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/dan-macleod--a-is-for-attitude
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Amen, why don't you stand together with me. We're going to go to the word of the Lord. I'm going to read from Philippians chapter 2 verses 14 and 15, and I'm going to read from the new international version. I give honor today to our pastor and church leadership and school leadership and your teachers, and thank God for them. Amen. The scripture says in Philippians 2 verses 14 and 15, do everything without grumbling or arguing, coming in strong on a Friday morning, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation, then you will shine among them like stars in the sky. And I want to talk to you for a few minutes today on this title, A is for attitude. I know most of you are beyond these things, but sometimes it's good to go back to the basics. So, Finn brought this home the other day. A is for Apple. I think you

guys are beyond Apple, but I want to talk to you about A is for attitude. Amen. Lord Jesus, I thank you for this amazing church family in this great school. Lord, we are certainly blessed of you to have the opportunity to be here today. I pray that you would touch our minds and hearts. I pray the word of the Lord would speak to us. God, we are not living for the moment alone, but these are investments into the men and women of God that we will become and the great things these people will do in the kingdom of God and their future. I pray today that this would be another word, another lesson that they could add to the inventory of their life to help them become more like you. And we pray in Jesus' name and everybody said, Amen. Amen. You can be seated. By definition, attitude is a settled way of feeling or thinking about someone or something that is reflected

in your behavior. How many have had a lecture from your parents before about attitude? It didn't raise your hand. There will be time to repent here in about 20 minutes. Attitude is how you feel or think, but it is always displayed and how you act. I would say this morning that attitude is the key to our success. When the children of Israel were about to move into the promised land, you know the story, I'm sure, 12 spies go into the land. And when they come back, 10 have a negative report. In fact, the Bible calls it an evil report. They said, well, there's giants in walled cities. There's too many obstacles. This is too hard. Challenges are too great. I don't like this. But there were two, Joshua and Caleb, that said, we are well able to go up at once. The scripture says of Caleb, it's in Numbers 14-24. I won't read it today, but the Bible says he had in

the King James another spirit with him. But it's not talking about another spirit like the spirit of God. It's talking about the spirit of man or his attitude. In fact, some translations actually use that word. And they say because Caleb had a different attitude. The Lord told him, you are able to enter in, but the others are not going to enter in. What's the point? The point is this, is your attitude determines your success. Caleb was not more talented. He didn't come from a wealthy family. He didn't have nicer shoes than somebody else. He wasn't necessarily the smartest kid in the class or the greatest athlete in the school. He just had a better attitude. And because of his attitude, God said, you get to go some places that other people don't get to go. As simple as it may seem, I would challenge us today that attitude is the key to success. And it should be said that attitude is a choice.

I know it seems easy to have a good attitude when we're receiving everything we want, when life is free of challenge and when we're in the middle of summer vacation. But if your house is like my house, when you have to get back into the school routine, sometimes you've got to work on your attitude a little bit. And life is full of things like this where it would seem that we have to practice the disciplining of ourselves to maintain a good attitude. If you read the life and the story of Paul, the apostle Paul knew what it was to suffer. He was rejected by people, chased out of cities, physically abused, put into prison, survived shipwrecks. He's put in jail multiple times. Paul knew what it was to suffer. And Paul would say things like this, rejoice forevermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything, give thanks. How do you do that? By taking control of your attitude. Paul understood that attitude is a choice.

Even if I'm suffering, even if I'm going to school when I don't want to, when I'm going to work and I don't feel like it, when I'm submitting and it's not fun, when I'm doing homework and I'd rather be playing, I can still have a good attitude because attitude is a choice and attitude determines our success. I want to tell you today why attitude is so important. I want to read from 1 Peter 5, 8 and 9. The scripture says, be sober and be vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. The Bible tells us that we must be sober, sober-minded. We must be vigilant. We must be on guard because of this reason. He says there is a devil and this devil is your adversary. He's walking about like a lion looking for somebody to devour. So Peter says it's your responsibility that you resist steadfast in the faith. You have to

stand against the devil. But it begs the question today, what does the devil do? How does the devil devour? I've been around the work of the church and ministry a little while. I would tell you this, the devil doesn't stop till he gets everything. The scripture says in John 10 that the thief cometh to steal, to kill and to destroy. He wants everything. The devil wants to take people's health, their money, their joy, their peace. He wants to destroy marriages and families. He wants to stop the church. It is the devil's objective to take everything, to devour all. But how does that happen? Well Paul said, and Ephesians 4 and 27, neither give place to the devil. And this is important because yes, the devil wants everything, but he can't get everything until he first just gets a place. And so Paul says, don't even give him a place. Now sometimes it's easy to think, well, you know, I must be okay. I

haven't given the devil everything, but it never starts with everything. It just starts with a place. Just a little area, a little thing. And Paul says, don't even give the devil a little place in your life. But again, I would ask the question today, how does the devil devour? Now if we took time to have Q and A today, we could come up with things that certainly would unequivocally, without dispute, we would say this is the work of the devil. Murder is the work of the devil. Alcohol is the work of the devil. All these bad things that destroy lives are without question, the work of the devil. These are things he does and uses to devour people. But if we look at 1 Peter 5 and we asked the question, how does the devil devour? You just have to look at the two verses before we read today to find out. The scripture says in verse five, likewise you younger submit yourself

unto the elder and all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility for God resisted the proud and give it grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. So this is how humility and pride, what are these things, their attitudes, their ways of feeling and thinking that are reflected in your behavior. So what is Peter trying to tell us? He's telling us that when the devil is moving about seeking those he may devour, what is he watching? He's watching your attitude. And it's your attitude that determines whether or not God has access to your life or if the devil has access to your life. It is humility that gives God access. It is pride that gives the devil access. It's easy to think that, well, the devil has no place in my life because I'm part of Life Academy. I've got my uniform on. I'll be

here Sunday and I'll be dressed for church. I'll sing the songs and I'll lift my hands. This is what we do. But the place that the devil seeks that we so often become dismissive towards is our own attitude. And this is what the devil looks for. The place in our lives that becomes prey for the adversary is our attitude. This is why it is so important that we strive to have a good attitude in all things. Even when we're tired, even when we're having to submit, even when we're doing things that we don't want to do, our attitude is important because it determines whether God has access to our life or the devil has access to our life. Your attitude wants you to hear me determines who and what has spiritual access to your life. A is for attitude. And so the scripture says Ephesians 4, 23, I'm reading from the NIV again, that you are to be made new in the attitude

of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Paul says take off that old man. Take off the old ways and you have to be made new in the attitude of your mind. You have to put on the new self because you have been created to be like God. What does that mean? How do I be like God? Thank you for asking. I'm going to tell you in Philippians 2 and verse 3 through 5, let nothing be done through strife or vane glory. That word strife literally means electioneering. It's to campaign. We understand this because America is in the middle of this right now. The nature of politics is so driven by self and selfishness and pride that it's not really a discussion surrounding policy anymore, it's a slander campaign. This is what America has devolved to. It's an attack on one person's character and who can be more aggressive and who

can be more mean. Really this is what politics has become. Who can make themselves appear better than the other person? This is what Paul is saying. This is not how the church should be. Let nothing be done through strife. There should be no campaigning in the church. There should be no conducting yourselves in a manner that you are perceived as better than somebody else. That's not how we live, but he says, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you. Let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. So what does it mean to put on this new attitude of mind? What does it mean to be like God? This is what it means. It means we're humble, we're selfless, and we're servants. Lowliness of mind means that we have humility. It means we have

a deep sense of our own littleness. Now I'm not a businessman. Business really doesn't mean anything to me. I'm a minister. The kingdom ministry. This is my heart. This is my life. So I was in California this week, and the gentleman I was preaching for on Tuesday night was at the meeting that Pastor Harpole was at last week. And I had dinner with he and his wife on Tuesday night, and they were telling me about getting to chat with him a little bit at this meeting. And his wife Rachel said he's just so humble. And I thought, Yeah, in fact, I remembered a moment back in, I think we were still in the old sanctuary, but I was standing by pastor and service one day and I said, You know, you've never let success change you. Because in the world of ministry, I mean, this, this is success. This is something to brag about and all glory to God. But I think one

of the admirable traits of our pastor, which really is the character of the Lord is that there is a humility. It's that success hasn't changed him a house, a car. It doesn't really matter because he is humble. There is a deep sense of one's own littleness and understanding and the vastness of how great the world is and how much work there is left to be done and how amazing God is. We're really not that great. We're humble and it is that humility that would cause us to look not on our own things, but on the things of others. We become selfless. We live with an attitude that says I'm concerned with others first before my own comfort. I know this is what it means to be like God. We're selfless. We don't live always pursuing what serves us, but we're constantly walking with an awareness of how we can serve others. And lastly, it is this, it's to be a servant. It's to

ask the question, how can I help others? What can I do today? And the next six hours that I'm at Life Academy on this Friday, what can I do to serve somebody else? I don't want to do. I want someone to serve me. Yeah. But be humble. Be selfless. Don't be concerned about what you need or what you want. Look for an opportunity to serve somebody else, to do good, find a way to make somebody else's life better, to make their day better. It could be holding a door. It could be picking up garbage. It could be being the first one to stop talking when the teacher needs to speak. All of these little things that seem so insignificant really are so important because attitude is everything. And to have a good attitude means God can take me places that he can't take others. I have watched this in my life. I've known people who were far more talented than others came from

much more affluent families by my understanding had all of the things that were necessary to go far into do great things. But these are not what qualifies us in the kingdom. He said, Caleb, you're getting to go into this land of promise for this simple reason. You had a better attitude. I tell you today that attitude is everything. It is the key to our success. And yes, it is a choice. Even even when life is hard, even when we're frustrated, even when we're having a bad day, even when we have to submit in those moments, we can make a choice to have a good attitude, to be like God, to practice humility, to be selfless and to serve. Amen. I want you to stand together with me. You've got to be sober. That is where the attitude begins. You've got to control your thoughts because if you don't control your thoughts, soon it will show in your behavior. And that will get you

a demerit. And it will also keep you out of the promised land. It'll cause you to miss the future that God has for you. I'm challenging us today because while it's so simple, I fear that in its simplicity, it's often overlooked. And we can think, well, I'm okay because the devil hasn't devoured me, but it never starts there. It just starts with a place. And that place that the devil looks for is in the attitude of a believer. An attitude is when you get angry about something and you speak out of that anger, you get frustrated about something, and you speak out of that frustration. You speak negatively concerning the church, the school, your parents, your siblings, your day, your homework. And the devil says, that's all I needed. I just needed just a place. Just I just needed one sentence. I just needed you to vocalize those few thoughts. I just needed you to reveal your bad attitude because if you have

a bad attitude, you can't get the help that you so desperately need. And so on this Friday, my challenge for Life Academy is, is be stewards of your attitude. Be disciplined in your mind. Take control of your mouth. The words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart. Be acceptable in thy sight, oh God. This is our prayer, that God would help me guard my attitude so I can receive everything he has for me because attitude is the key to our success and attitude is a choice. And if you, if you, if you want everything God has, if you want to walk in victory and you want the promises of God to come to pass in your life, then you need to let God have access to you. And the only way he has access is by the practicing of a good attitude. Be humble, be selfless and be a servant. And if you'll practice those three things, I promise you, I

promise you, God will take you so far. You'll see so God do so many things. It's this simple. You don't have to be the most talented. You don't have to be the most popular. You don't have to have the nicest shoes or be the best athlete. You just have to be humble. Be selfless. Be a servant. You're walking through through your house this week and there's dirty dishes on the counter. Help your parents. Pick them up. Take them to the sink. Wash them off. There's garbage laying on the table. Take it to the garbage can. Well, I didn't put it there. That's self-talking. A selfless person would never say that. Because as I said it at our youth retreat, we is greater than me. And so A is for attitude. It is the key to all things. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, I thank you for these great young people. I thank you for the privilege we have to be at Life

Academy and here in your presence today. I bring a simple word, a practical word. But Lord, I really believe it's the building block to a successful life. Father, I believe it's a key to the producing of a godly character. I believe it's the building block to a great life and a future that is prosperous in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray today that you would open the minds of each one who are here to receive the word of the Lord. I pray by the gentle impression of your Holy Spirit that you would speak to them as they move through this day. God in the days to come as they interact with teachers and peers and parents and siblings. As we come to church, even this weekend I pray that the word of the Lord that we have heard this day would come to our remembrance and you would challenge us in moments of how we can practice humility. How we

can live with a selfless attitude and how we can serve one another for truly, this is the character of you and I want your character to be my character. I want the attitude, the mind that was in Christ Jesus to be in me. So Lord Jesus, I ask you today, let your attitude be given to us. Let it grow in us as John prayed. So I pray I must decrease and you must increase. Let me think more like you and feel more like you. Let me talk more like you and act more like you. I pray this today in the name of Jesus Christ. Bless these students I pray in Jesus name.