Faith column: An attitude of gratitude

Ephesians 5:21-33

When was the last time you said—“Thank You”?

When was the last time you said—“Please”?

When you introduce your spouse…How do you do it?

With…enthusiasm,

embarrassment,

appreciation,

a joke—

with love.

When you talk about your church, how does it sound? Are you ready to invite someone? Are you hesitant because your church doesn’t have a particular building or music? Do you hold back because you do not attend church very regularly yourself?

When you talk politics or city government, do you appear distraught? Are you constantly griping about the way things are in the world today? Are you still upset that you have not won the lottery!?

All these things are part of what we have inside. It is called “attitude.” It includes the sum of all the things we have lived through in our lives. It includes all the heartbreak we have experienced. It includes all the generosity we have received. It takes our whole life and reduces it into something called “attitude.” This is the lens we view life through. Everything goes into shaping our “inside,” so that what then comes out is an attitude. We may fake an occasional moment but overall our attitude is visible everyday.

Our faith shapes a great deal of our life. Despite the many circumstances we experience, our faith becomes sort of a filter that accepts all the details and events but defines them. It includes some as significant and others as relatively unimportant. Thus we are molded into the image of someone who has faith in…things unseen and things yet to come. Our attitude is an expression of this faith. We live it out each day. We cannot avoid living and we cannot avoid who we are. Are we the one we want to be?

Would your attitude be one that reflects Christ and God’s Kingdom?

Joseph M. Westfall is a bi-vocational minister living in Oak Ridge. Since 1975, his ministry has covered pastoral positions in 17 churches across several denominational lines in six different states. He has special training and experience in interim ministry for churches in transition. He has a Biblical style and teaching heart. He encourages honesty and the Holy Spirit. His favorite response to a sermon he has preached? “You make me think!”