GOT ATTITUDE?

How do you get a good attitude?

Is it "mind over matter"...like repeatedly choosing to see a glass half full?  That effort can be an exhausting hamster wheel.  So then, how DO you keep a good attitude in a difficult world?

How about considering the be-attitudes?

Jesus offered a fresh approach to living when He sat down on a rocky hillside in Galilee and people came to Him to hear His ideas.

Consider Jesus' task as He began explaining why their rules-oriented approach would not allow them to see God.  The kind of life Jesus offered was radical and upside down to what they had been taught...it was INSIDE-OUT living.  It was learning how to "be" before you "do".

Had you been in the crowd that day, would you have hurried to sign onto a call to admit spiritual bankruptcy, to grieve, to step out of first place, to hunger for right, to be lenient with someone who has done you wrong, to pursue holiness, to help others find peace with God, and to endure insult for His sake?

Those are Jesus' eight beatitudes (ways to be happy/blessed/joyful/satisfied).  Rather than seeing them as a list, think about their progression:

1.  Jesus says you are happy if you see your spiritual condition and realize you are impoverished or POOR IN SPIRIT.

In 1978, God gracefully showed me how He saw my life.  I had always justified and minimized my sin...sometimes comparing myself to other sinners to feel better (as in, "well, at least I haven't murdered anyone").  Now the Lord's light showed my wrong-headedness and I agreed with Him.

When the text says "poor in spirit" there are several words Jesus might have used to describe poverty.  There is "penas" (the kind of poor who are just getting by) and there is "ptochos" (the desperate poor who won't eat supper if someone doesn't provide it).  This first beatitude is talking about a spiritually bankrupt beggar who will not have any spiritual richness unless the Father gives it.

Jesus says when they see this, THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

2.  I saw my sin and grieved...and Jesus tells them they are happy if they MOURN OVER SIN.  We don't normally aspire to be sad, but when I was shown how my sin offended a holy God, it was crushing.  The Lord is good to let me see my need of Him.

When we are sorry for our sin, Jesus says MOURNERS WILL BE COMFORTED.

3.  Then God's presence brings more assurance that God is real and you taken a step closer to Him.  Jesus says that you are happy if you are MEEK/SUBMITTED.  Somehow over time "meek" has come to mean "milktoast", but that couldn't be farther from the truth.  Meekness is power under control.  Only a meek Jesus would lay down on a crucifixion cross because He was submitted to the Father's plan.

When I submitted, I gave up being the big dog and my own life wrangler.  I gave up my rights because I know that His plan is far superior to anything that I could come up with.  Sometimes I take it back, but I'm thankful for the slack that my Father cuts me, knowing my frame is just dust.

Those who submit to God WILL INHERIT THE EARTH.  That means the countless souls who have asked God to rescue them will one day help Him rule when He restores the earth.  That's amazing.

4.  Having submitted to the lordship of Christ, Jesus says you are happy when you HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.  You begin to notice things fall away that used to be important and now you feel complete when you have chewed on something that God says.  Light begets more light.

One way I see my life has changed is in Bible study.  At one time the Bible seemed unconnected to reality and hard to understand, but now I have a Translator.  Before I wouldn't be caught dead in a Bible study, but now after 30+ years I'm still learning new things every day.  Before I might hear a sermon with a couple of verses thrown in, but now I want a verse-by-verse teaching.

The book of 1Peter has one of those verses.  It says believers should be like newborn babies who LONG for the milk of the Word.  That's why Jesus said those who hunger and thirst for it WILL BE SATISFIED.

5.  The more you read and understand how much the Lord has forgiven you, the more merciful you get.  Jesus says you are happy when you are MERCIFUL.  Those who have been forgiven much...will forgive much.

Jesus loved mercy because the Father designed and modeled it so we could come to Him.  THE MERCIFUL WILL RECEIVE MERCY.  Priceless.

6.  Being forgiven purifies.  Children often have a lack of guile, so it's no surprise that Jesus says you are happy when your heart is PURE.   Our hearts are heavy because we know too much; much of what we know is unnecessary.  Jesus says to guard your hearts and set aside your hearts for God.  Be careful what worthless thing you put in front of your eyes.  And how does that little children's song go?  "Be careful little ears what you hear."  Why?  You stumble yourself.

Those who ask God to purify their hearts WILL SEE GOD.

7.  The purer the heart, the greater the desire for peace.  Jesus says you are happy when you are PEACEMAKERS.  These are the ones who enjoy shalom in a vertical relationship (man and God) and in a horizontal relationship (man to man).

You've heard it said that the Bible begins with peace in a garden and will end in peace in a garden...but the in-between sure has been full of strife.  God's highest and best for us is to be at peace with Him first, but then those who have felt that settledness want others to feel the same thing.  They take Jesus at His word, become salt and light in their sphere of influence, and share the story of salvation.

The payoff?  Peacemakers WILL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD.

8.  But when the gospel is shared, often a rebuff is around the corner.  So why, then, does Jesus say you are happy if you are scorned?  Giving up first place is a tough battle.  The battle seems like it is between you and your friend, but really the friend is fighting with God.

Jesus says you are in good company because they persecuted the prophets and apostles before you.  And He said they hate you because they hated Him first.  It's His fight and you are just the placeholder.

But there's a wonderful promise attached to the eighth beatitude:  YOUR REWARD WILL BE GREAT IN HEAVEN.

The Lord is good and kind.  Every beatitude comes with an awesome promise, motivating us to be salty and shiny.  We want to have a good attitude and we don't want to have to TRY to have it...but that it would come from our innermost being.

The beatitudes can be found in Matthew, Chapter 5...where they call us to first BE, then DO.