12 Steps Toward Better Attitude

By Gerald Cowan   One: Look for the good in everything, no matter what.  Don’t ignore the  bad or pretend it isn’t bad. That is unrealistic ( Mt. 7:1-5). Don’t focus on the bad to the exclusion of the good. There is either something good in everything that happens or something in it that can be turned to God.  Remember, God will works with you to bring good out of  everything that happens – even the bad things. Rom. 8:28 RSV   Two: By an act of your own will, ban all suggestive, lustful, and immoral things from your mind.  Let God transform your mind and your mind d from within (Rom. 12:2). But God doesn’t tend the doors of your  mind, keeping bad out, letting only good to come in. You must do that for yourself.  Prov. 4:23   Three: By an act of your own will, fill your mind with positive things, including thanksgiving.   Phil. 4:8    Four: Never welcome of surrender to negative emotions (Eph. 4:31-32).  Plant only good seeds in the mind and tend the plants to keep them healthy. Don’t expect God to do your present “weeding” for you. Don’t just hope you can cut or remove the weeds when they appear (Mt. 13:28-29). Fill all the available space with something  positive, healthy and helpful. Weeds will not grow where no space is allowed to them.   Five:   Practice the ‘as if’ principle.  If you want to develop a good characteristic ...  Act as if you already have it. Then develop it, nurture it in all the ways required to avoid the loss of it. To make an improvement or change in relationships or secure them or win approval and favor as if you know it is going to happen, act as if it has already happened.   Six: Determine to have an attitude of love and good will ( Phil. 2:1-4).  Change your attitude toward others – be positive toward them and they will change their attitude to positive  toward you.   When each one waits for the other to take the first step, no steps get taken.   Seven: See and acknowledge the good in others (1 John 1:4-7, 2 John 4, 3 John 3-4). Be thankful for the potential for good that is in others.  Believe the good can be cultivated and the negative removed from others.   Eight: Be an ambassador of good will and good works to every person you meet.  It is one thing to wish a person well.  3 John 2  but... actually do the good works, don’t just wish it (or pray it) for them.  James 2:15-16   Nine: Practice the principle of replacement. Return good for evil, overcome evil with good.  Rom. 12:21    Ten: Express appreciation and praise for what others do (or attempt to do) for you.  Phil. 1:19-20    Eleven: Allow others to give to you and do things for you.  It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), but some are content just to receive and feel no urge to  “do unto others what you want done to you” (Mt. 7:12).  Do not refuse to receive. Let others have the blessing of giving to you or doing something for you. Be a blessing facilitator – willing to receive so others could be blessed by giving. Although that feeling can easily be warped there is certainly a measure of valid truth in it.  We all need both the blessing of giving and the blessing of receiving.     Twelve: Practice positive prayer. Phil. 4:6-7

- Gerald Cowan, a longtime preacher and missionary, is retired from full-time pulpit preaching. Gerald publishes an e-mail newsletter entitled GERALD COWAN’S PERSONAL PERIODICAL WRITINGS. He is available for Gospel Meetings and he may be contacted at Geraldcowan1931@aol.com