Hi everyone,
In the message today from Philippians 2, we'll be looking at an attitude or mindset that pleases God. Attitude is everything. "Attitude is altitude" – that's a phrase I like to use because when it's good and right and positive our attitude will pick us up when we're down and even lift us up to the heights, or else it will drag us down when it's not.
Our attitude or mindset is an internal thinking/feeling process that governs our behaviour and therefore, as Christians, our witness as well. When the internal part (our heart and mind) is good and godly, the external part that flows from it (our speech and behaviour) will also be good and godly. Likewise, when our attitude and mindset are bad or wicked, then so will be our tongue and our actions.
Jesus taught this principle using a number of different analogies—like 'The Tree and Its Fruit' in Luke 6:43-45.
“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.
Just as the tree "produces" after its own kind (what it inherently is at its core), so people "produce" or perform or conduct themselves according to what's in their heart (which is the core of our personhood). Our speech and our behaviour (which for Christians is also our witness) flows from what is in our hearts. Some translations say "For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks".
That's why it's so important to have a 'Christ-like' attitude and mindset. We cannot live the Christian life without it. Without Christ's presence in our hearts changing the way we think and respond, our behaviour will only ever reflect our own carnal thoughts and feelings.
The key to "producing good fruit" and being "a good person [who] produces good things from the treasury of a good heart" is to give up! – give up trying to produce those things yourself. Surrender to Christ and allow Him to do it. The key to a victorious Christian life is don't just live for Christ, let Christ live through you!
May His attitude and mindset be yours in increasing measure. God bless.
Pastor Rob
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