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Can Attitude Be More Important than Fact?

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On the wall above our copier at work is an encouraging statement by Charles Swindoll. I am not quite sure why it ended up over the copier but there it is, staring us in the face while we wait for our copies to print out.

Attitude
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 that we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

What struck me was the surprising idea that attitude might be more important than fact. Of course, Chuck Swindoll is writing from a Christian point of view, so his belief system revolves around the historic and experiential fact of the existence of a loving God who is behind and upholds all things. What if I doubt this premise? Could I still develop an attitude that transcends the difficulties and problems that I face? This is where we have to differentiate between idealistic and realistic attitudes.

We have all met the super-positive idealistic person who sees the silver lining to each problem and is blind to some of the hard facts which lurk just out of sight. Sooner or later the truth will come out.

On the other hand, a realistic attitude will tend to weigh the pros and cons of the situation. But what is realism? What are the facts? We need to look beyond the "immediate facts" that surround a situation to consider the "ultimate facts" which give meaning to the specific situation and then to all of life.

Dr. Francis Schaeffer, founder of L’Abri Fellowship, used to ask seekers "What is your final screen?" In other words, what is your final authority, your ultimate reference point? Christian answers to these questions make particular sense.

If our attitude is not founded on a reality that transcends the immediate situation, we are left with wishful thinking and a groundless faith. Quite simply, the Christian has every reason to have a realistic but also a vibrant, transcendent attitude that can meet situations with courage, compassion, and hope.

When we look at this bigger picture, we can base our attitude on the ultimate reality. We have a God who loves us, who has revealed himself in history, in and through the person of Jesus Christ. This resurrected Jesus is alive. Through the Holy Spirit, we can know him and the power of his resurrection so that "experience" can augment "ultimate fact."

Jesus expresses it graphically: "Whoever drinks the water that I give will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life" (John 4:14). If this is true, it will profoundly affect our attitude.

When we know the risen Lord, we realize who is ultimately in control. He sets us free from worry about things that we can't control. And he leads us to an attitude of peace, so we can rest in him.

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