My Cheerful Best (part 2)

Click here if you missed part 1.

How can we ensure our attitudes are affected by Biblical truth?

In all things I must have a correct understanding of who God is and His holiness. Knowing my need for God and the many ways I fail Him, and understanding my position before The Almighty- must- and will, produce humility. This fear and reverence of God is necessary from the beginnings of faith until the end. It allows us to be teachable but also produces a humility that is bathed in thankfulness. Humility and thankfulness run in the same vein. In fact, who knows which comes first? For humility begets thankfulness and thankfulness is the heart-full kindling of humility.

It is an important distinction to know the disposition and orientation of our thoughts. There is power in framing things the right way and strength in being selective about the ideas you allow to bounce around in your head. In fact, your emotions and actions will, in this way, be steered in the direction of your thoughts. (Phil. 4:8) This is not a call to think positively so that positive things will happen to you. This is again, a call to see things clearly through the truth of the Bible and to live in accordance with it even if we are caught in a season of waiting.

This means we frame things correctly when we see the world with spiritual eyes that are grounded in Truth. This is not toxic positivity or fatal optimism. It is a discipline that is hardly ever easy.  We are to hold every thought captive. That is, to catch every thought and subject it to the Word of God by making it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) If your thoughts are anything like mine, you know many of them are only going to subject themselves kicking and screaming….and that can be very difficult, indeed. 

But take heart, the scripture says that Jesus learned obedience (e.g. resilience) through suffering (Hebrews 5:7-9). So when you are in your moment of despair and tempted to think in a way that is contrary to the gospel, bind up the thought and choke it out with the help of the Bible. Replace the lying words of our enemy with specific truths from scripture and plant life into the furrows of your mind (Hebrews 4:12, Jeremiah 20:9, 23:29).

Honoring God with our hard moments can look different in every situation.  Sometimes it may look like hope or optimism, other times like courage or simple kindness. We will all struggle with our attitude at some point but if we are disciplined a good attitude can become our habit.

Jesus is always our ultimate example.  We know he had times of great seriousness and stress. We see him teaching and rebuking, passionate, zealous, and sad. Yet Jesus exuded more joy than any other person who has ever lived. Jesus was perfect, whole, and present. He kept perfect accounts of His thoughts and emotions even when confronted with the cross (Hebrews 12:2). True strength of character and thought, resiliency, and self-control are ultimately a gift from God given though the Holy Spirit, though we do need to cooperate (1 Thessalonians 1).

We all have difficult days. Days that are exhausting and hard.  Sometimes those days can be significant turning points in our lives. Yet, we are only allowed the moment we are in to be faithful.  If you are waiting to move in faith, know this; once the miracle has happened it is, by definition, too late to have faith. For faith is the belief in things unseen. C.S. Lewis states it this way, “For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.” We only have today or, more specifically, this hard and difficult moment to honor the Lord in what we do.

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

Being cheerful definitely means a feeling of happiness or optimism but it can also refer to the way we cause OTHERS to feel when they are around us.  One can be cheerful to others and not feel that emotion, themselves. I know people like this. People who would console you while on their own death bed, people who speak life and hope in every situation. Moses puts forth adherence to God’s law as the choice between blessings and curses, death or life. Truly, in the heart of our attitudes it is so (Deut. 30:19, Proverbs 18:21).

So check your attitude. On hard days when you are tempted to unload on the unexpecting stranger unlucky enough to ask, “How are you doing?”; remember God’s goodness to you. He will help you to answer graciously.  Listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting on what to share and how, and know that there is a peace and confidence that comes from the Lord and satisfies more than any “unloading” ever could. Choose in that moment to give your burden to God, instead of another. Embody what it means to be cheerful by blessing that person with an uplifting or pleasant answer. If being positive simple feels disingenuous try answering them with, “I’m doing my cheerful best,” and know that you really are, and that God is in it.

Picture and post by Melanie Barnfield. Melanie Barnfield  has been married 16  years to the love of her life, Elijah, and has been blessed with 5 beautiful children. Residing in Southern IL, she is an avid reader who enjoys teaching, gardening, art, and photography. Her creative endeavors can be viewed at MelBelle Musings  or at her Etsy shop by the same name.

You can find more of Melanie's posts on the PriorityNow Blog here.