A thought by John C. Maxwell from his
book, How High Will You Climb? (p. 10).
Harpers Collins Leadership Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to
Amazon.com to buy the book.)
Attitude, we do hear that word a lot,
don’t we?
John says, “It may be used as a
complaint or a compliment. It could mean the difference between a promotion or
a demotion. Sometimes we sense it; other times we see it. Yet it is difficult
to explain.”
He goes on, “The attitude is an inward
feeling expressed by behavior. That is why an attitude can be seen without a
word being said. Haven’t we all noticed the pout of the sulker or the jutted
jaw of the determined? Of all the things we wear, our expressions are the most
important.
“The Bible teaches us that ‘God sees
not as a man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks
at the heart’ (1 Sam. 16:7). ‘The heart is more deceitful than all else and is
desperately sick; who can understand it?’ (Jer. 17:9). These statements express
our inability to know for sure what emotions are going on inside someone else.
Yet while we refrain from judging others by their outward expressions, many
times the outward actions become a ‘window to the soul.’ A person who gives ‘a
look that kills’ probably is not inwardly singing, ‘Something Good Is Going to
Happen to You.’
Later he says, “Since an attitude
often is expressed by our body language and by the looks on our faces, it can
be contagious. Have you noticed what happens to a group of people when one
person, by his expression, reveals a negative attitude? Or have you noticed the
lift you receive when a friend’s facial expression shows love and acceptance?
“David’s music and presence encouraged
a troubled King Saul. Scripture tells us ‘the spirit of the LORD departed from
Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him’ (1 Sam. 16:14). The
king’s men were told to find someone who could lift their ruler’s spirit. They
brought David into the palace and ‘Saul loved him greatly. . . . And Saul sent
to Jesse, saying, ‘“Let David now stand before me; for he has found favor in my
sight.”’ So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David
would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and
be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him’ (vv. 21–23).
Do you see that your attitude does a
work on you but it also does a work on those around you?
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