Today is my first day at my new and, hopefully, last job before I retire. I had orientation last week in their Richland office, but today will be my first day at the College Place location where I’ll be working.
I’m excited and optimistic about this opportunity, but mostly I’m determined to do things differently this go round. At the job I just left I didn’t have a good attitude. Yes, the job was not ideal and the administration didn’t always make the best choices, but I realized toward the end the real problem was my negative attitude. With God’s help I’ll do better this time around.
Attitude makes such a difference. It can turn a great situation sour and sweeten even the foulest circumstances. To have this type of attitude we need a transformation in how we think. Our natural tendency is to look out for ourselves, to make sure no one takes advantage of us, to build ourselves up. This isn’t Christ’s way, however.
In describing Himself, Jesus said he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35 NIV). Jesus, even though He was “in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant…” (Philippians 2:6, 7).
The secret to a positive attitude, whether at work, home, or whatever circumstance you find yourself in is to have the “mind of Christ” and, like Him, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Phillipians 2:3, 4).
This doesn’t come easily to any of us, but can only happen when we fix “our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:2). When we do this we will “be transformed by the renewing of [our] mind.” (Romans 12:2). With a new mind comes a new attitude and with a new attitude we can reach heights we’ve never dreamed of, because to truly succeed we first have to serve.