Attitude by Chuck Swindoll

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have -- that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.

Avoiding Financial Hurdles

We had some great news Saturday! A letter from the seminary arrived and it said, "I am pleased to inform you that the Financial Aid Committee reviewed your application and awarded a grant of $4500 to you for the 2006-2007 academic year." This is such a blessing. We know seminary education costs a lot of money, but we are encouraged by this letter. I'm confident the Lord will provide for our every financial need.

Get Over It?

I am an ESPN Radio junkie. On my way to work each morning, I listen to Mike & Mike. When I am on the road two mornings each week, I listen to the soap box rants of Collin Cowherd. While I'm traveling to my high school each afternoon, I tune in to the Dan Patrick Show. It's undeniable...I'm an ESPN Radio fool. I tune in whenever I can to get the latest on sports talk, scores, rumors, and more.

The other day, I dialed in to the Dan Patrick Show and he was discussing the topic about how coach Mike Holmgren of the Seattle Seahawks was still upset and bothered by the Super Bowl officiating which ultimately (in many opinions) cost them the championship. In addition to Coach Mike's comments, the NFL announced that in the future, referees cannot make a call unless they see it happen for sure. (This is an attempt to reduce the dreaded "phantom call" -- where an official thinks they may have seen something but then again...maybe not). And many callers called in to the show to tell Seahawk fans and Mike Holmgren to "get over it," the Super Bowl is over, you lost, see you next year. But if you really think about it, something like that just isn't that easy to "get over." We're talking the Super Bowl here. It's the biggest sporting event of the entire year in the U.S. It just doesn't get any bigger than that. So, it's understandable that Coach Holmgren is still upset by the outcome of a clearly controversial game.

Perhaps you, as a former athlete, remember losing the "big game" in high school and every once in a while you reflect on the details of the game to this very day. It's not something you can just get over easily. Or perhaps you were due for a big raise this year, but due to your boss' admitted accounting error, you received very little in compensation for all your hard work this year. Would you be able to "get over" that? Or more personally, maybe you have been burned by a girlfriend or boyfriend who left you for someone else? These are very real feelings of hurt, distrust, and it is very difficult to "get over it."

Is there something that you (or even I) haven't been able to get over because of a grudge or because we haven't been able to accept or receive forgiveness? The Bible doesn't come out and say things like "get over it" but it does tell us that we should love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, forgive others when we have been wronged, and try as best we can to forget about the past (even though it's a difficult thing to do).