Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Attitude”
Our Bible verse for today: “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.” Proverbs 3:11-12 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “You may need an attitude adjustment.”
My mother was one of the sweetest people you could ever know. There was no question that she loved me deeply. I’m the oldest of six and I’m sure that I was her favorite. I love to tell my brothers and sisters that but they don’t believe me. They all think that they were her favorite but they’re wrong, I’m sure it was really me.
My Mom was exceedingly patient with her children – especially when it came to correcting us when we misbehaved. She would calmly explain to us what we did wrong and give us lots of opportunity to correct our behavior. It took a lot – and I mean a whole lot – for her to lose her temper. When she finally did she would stamp her foot and say, “Alright, that’s it! You need an attitude adjustment!” And then the discipline would start. Most of the time it was hard to take the discipline too seriously and not laugh because my Mom was so sweet it was hard for her to get mad or to stay mad. So the discipline was usually pretty tame but still, we did get our attitudes adjusted.
Sometimes God needs to take action to adjust our attitudes too. Like my Mom, God loves us deeply and He is exceedingly patient with us. And also like my Mom, God doesn’t want to be angry with us and He doesn’t want to stay angry with us; but He will take the action necessary to help us adjust our attitudes.
The key when you’re on the receiving end of the discipline is to go ahead and adjust that attitude quickly so that the discipline can end. The worst thing you can do, whether we’re talking about a child being disciplined by a parent or you being discipline by God, is to get stubborn about it. The discipline will continue as long as it takes for you to adjust that attitude and bring your behavior back in line with what’s acceptable. It makes no sense to prolong it any longer than necessary by being stubborn.
The thing is, we can all see the wisdom of that when it comes to a child being disciplined by a parent. The child should just do what the parent says and make the needed adjustment to their attitude. But what about us when we get stubborn with God and persist in our unacceptable behavior rather than just accepting the correction? How many of us prolong the discipline from God because we stubbornly persist in doing wrong?
One thing I learned as a child was that I could bring the discipline to an end very quickly by simply accepting the correction and adjusting my attitude. The same is true with God. All He wants is our obedience. Give Him that and there will no longer be any need for correction or discipline.
If you’re in need of an attitude adjustment I suggest you just go ahead and adjust it and get it over with. God is patient and loving and kind and He doesn’t want this to go on any longer than necessary. But the discipline will continue until the attitude gets adjusted.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 