Attitude Adjustments By The Lord2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Men do not make themselves into Christians. Only Christ can do that. Becoming a Christian is a gift from God. It results from an action by God Himself. It is being made into a new creature by God Himself. It is an attitude adjustment and it is much more than that. God provides His new creatures (Christians) with a different outlook on everything.
Kenneth H. Wood, Jr. wrote a wonderful devotion on Titus 1:15: Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
Two men look out through the same bars;
One sees the mud, and one the stars.
This bit of verse, attributed to various authors, points up sharply the truth that what we see around us usually reflects what is within us. Two men are slogging through a field. One man is from the city; the other, from the country. To the city dweller the soil is filth, an annoyance, something to be scraped off one*s shoes. To the farmer the soil is a thing of beauty, nourishment for his growing crops, the basic source of his financial security. The soil is the same; the men are different.
Two people look at the church. One sees it as a divine institution, the object of Christ*s most tender regard; the other sees it merely as a human organization, operated for the benefit of authority-hungry ecclesiastics. The church is the same; the men are different.
Two young people plan to be married. One looks upon marriage as an opportunity to throw off parental restraints, to become free of church standards, to gratify lust. The other views it as an opportunity for greater character development, for showing personal loyalty to truth and righteousness, for bestowing unselfish care and affection on his life companion. The institution of marriage is the same; the young people are different.
Unto the pure all things are pure. If we are always suspicious of others, if we constantly impute evil motives to our associates, if we are quick to label everything about us as *dirty,* *filthy,* or *impure,* it is possible that the trouble lies within our own lives. Perhaps we need to ask the Saviour to cleanse us in His precious blood. As He washes the windows of our soul free from the grime of sin, we will see life in purer, brighter hues.
Before God made me into a new creature I was like the city dweller, like the critic of the church and like the young person who married for wrong reasons. I thank the Lord that He has made me into a new and different creature, that He has given me an attitude adjustment. Have you had yours yet? |