Attitude Archives - Page 3 of 3

Attitude Check.

July 17, 2012 By: Sarah Leffcomment

Happy Tuesday! It’s another hot day over here. As much as I love summer, I’m almost looking forward to fall being here already. Is that strange? It’s been so dry here that some of the leaves are already changing colors. Now that is strange. Fall is definitely my favorite season though, so I guess it’s okay that I’m looking forward to it.

Anyways.

I’m still in Proverbs, and let me tell you—it is so intriguing. My devotion time is taking longer and longer each day as I try and decipher what each proverb actually means. I’ve been doing a lot of highlighting and underlining in the good old study Bible, so I guess that’s a good thingJ

One verse that stuck out to me today was from Proverbs 14…

“The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easy to the discerning.”

Proverbs 14:6

At first I kind of skimmed over this proverb. It made sense in my mind, but I felt I was somewhat missing the point. In the footnotes (of course) I noticed that the word “mocker” referred to someone who scoffs at any and all advice and instruction given to them. Intrigued, I read on a bit. If you are someone with a “mocker” mentality when it comes to seeking wisdom, you won’t find it because you aren’t taking it seriously. You don’t really care that much about the outcome, because your mentality is stuck and you aren’t willing to change. People who aren’t willing to change are not going to receive advice well, let alone wisdom, and will remain stuck in their ways, wondering why they are going nowhere.

It’s all about attitude. If you are someone with an open mind to advice and instruction, wisdom will come easily. You’ll gladly come to the Lord in prayer and seek counsel with those wiser and older than you when faced with a decision or choice. What’s more, you won’t just listen to their advice—you’ll actually take it.

“Knowledge comes to easy to the discerning.” If the wisdom you need does not come easily to you, perhaps your attitude is the barrier. Check yourself. Maybe the wisdom you need has already been given; you just weren’t listening well enough. Are you someone who responds well to the wisdom and advice of God and others? Or is it hard for you to accept constructive criticism?

For me it’s a little bit of both. The older I get, the easier it is for me to accept advice (I guess I don’t actually know everything like I thought I did as a teenagerJ). It’s important to keep an open mind when it comes to receiving advice and instruction. Now I’m not saying that all advice you receive will be Godly and true—that’s where the discernment comes in. Always pray about the advice you receive. But, keeping your attitude in check and allowing yourself to have an open mind can do wonders in receiving good quality wisdom from those who are much wiser than you or I.

Hope you are having a great week so far, and God bless J

Think…Say…Do…

June 15, 2012 By: Sarah Leff2 Comments

I finally made it to the book of PSALMS…yay! I really like Psalms, not only because they are easy to read, but also because many of them are quite beautifully written. In fact, many are songs or poems…almost like little love notes that people (like David) wrote for God. I love it. Anyways, today I was reading in Psalms 19, and this particular verse stuck out to me…

“May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” -Psalms 19:14

I know I’ve heard this verse before at some point, but as I was reading it really stuck out to me for some reason. Generally when a verse or passage intrigues me I jump down to the foot notes at the bottom of the page (I have an NIV Life Application Study Bible, so there are usually quite a few notes about different passages). Granted, not every verse has a foot note, but this one happened to have one. And it got me thinking.

“Would you change the way you live if you knew that every word and thought would be examined by God first?”

Wow. That’s heavy. It really got me thinking about what the things that I think in my heart, and whether or not I would really want God to hear everything that I think, say, and do…before I even do it. Now the fact of the matter is that God actually does know what we are thinking, what we are going to say before we say it, and what we are going to do before we do it. Makes you think huh? I guess I’ve always known this, but never really thought about it before.

It’s not that I constantly have horrible evil thoughts going on in my mind, and most of the time the things I say and do are kind. But no one is perfect, me especially, and we all think, say and do things that can be hurtful to others and to God. There is no way around this. We are human, and we live in a fallen world which is full of sin everywhere we look. I began to feel discouraged, until I realized that David (the author of this particular Psalm) is actually asking God for help. He is asking God to help him think, say and do things that are pleasing in the God’s sight. A feat David could not accomplish alone…he needed God’s help. As do we.

Do you feel like you think, say and do things that may not be pleasing in God’s sight? I know I do. Ask God to help you in this area, just as David did. Praying out portions of scripture can be a powerful tool in our daily lives, and Psalms 19:14 is a perfect example.

Lord, “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Oh Lord My rock and my redeemer.” Help me to think, say and do things that are honoring and uplifting to you. Amen.

Hope you guys are all having a fantastic week so far…God Bless!

Procrastination…

June 6, 2012 By: Sarah Leffcomment

Sometimes the best way to accomplish a goal, or any sort of task for that matter, is to just start DOING it. You know you have a bunch of laundry to do, but, if you are anything like me, when Saturday morning hits and you finally have time to think about starting it you procrastinate. The excuses are often endless. “I’ll start if after I do my devotions”, or “Maybe after I work out and shower then I will feel motivated to start.” It’s funny, because I was the same way in college. If I had a big term paper due the next week (which of course had been assigned 2 or 3 months prior in the hopes that us procrastinating students would get a head start on it…yeah right) I would literally start the paper the same week it was due—if I was lucky maybe the weekend before. I got through the majority of my college papers using this method of extreme procrastination. (Disclaimer—this is not something I would recommend. Just because it somehow always worked for me, doesn’t mean it’s the best way to write a paper.)

Somehow though it would always get done. Why? I think I know why. Because in those last few days before the paper was set to be due, I would develop this crazed sense of urgency to begin writing, and would just start. It was always just that simple. I could think about writing the 20-page term paper for months, but until I actually sat down and started to write nothing was ever accomplished. From that point on I would hunker down for 5 or 6 hours with my computer and crank out a 15 to 20-page paper. That easy. Those months I spent thinking about the paper and stressing about what I was going to write could have been easily averted if I would have just picked up my pen (or laptop) and started to write.

Sometimes I wonder why I would let myself drag out a task like this, but I think I know the answer—my natural tendency is to procrastinate. I don’t think the tendency to procrastinate is unique to myself—I’m guessing that there are a lot more people out there who struggle with the same exact thing. So, the problem isn’t my lack of ability, because I always somehow managed to pull off quite good grades on those procrastinated papers—the problem is what I chose to do with this ability. If only I could break free from the grips of procrastination, I am absolutely certain I would get so much more accomplished.

So, without any further procrastination in my attempt to beat procrastination, I have decided to start doing. I know the temptation to put off the things I know I need to get done (aka procrastination) will try and convince me to stop doing, but I have decided to be determined in doing.

What have you been putting off that can’t wait any longer to be finished? Maybe it’s that last load of laundry, or those stinky dishes in the sink waiting to be washed and put away. Whatever it is, I challenge you to finish it. You’ll feel so much better when it’s done.

Or maybe it’s something bigger than that last load of laundry. Not that you won’t feel accomplished when that task is done, but imagine how much better, more fulfilled you will feel when you finish something big—or maybe start something big.

What have you been putting off beginning? What is that thing that you’ve always wanted to do, but keep putting off; always saying that you’ll do it next year, or when you get everything figured out in your head first? Let me tell you something—that doesn’t happen. If you always wait until you have everything sorted or figured out, you’ll never get started! Half the battle of doing, is figuring out the logistics of it on the way. It’s all part of the journey.

So what is it? Starting a new career? Spending more time with family? Maybe you’re an amazing singer and you’ve always wanted to use that God-given talent to do something important for His kingdom. Well what are you waiting for? Do it.

For me it’s writing. Writing and I kind of have a love-hate relationship. It’s something that I love to do, but is often one of the first things that gets put off when I get busy—the first thing I choose to procrastinate on. Strange right? But, like I said earlier, the best way to start doing something is to just do it, and that’s what I am doing right now. I may not be writing a novel or an important newspaper article that everyone will read and be changed by, but I’m doing—I’m writing, and that’s what counts. Sarah 1; procrastination 0.

« Previous Page

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

Tags

Categories