"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5, NIV) "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil 2:5, KJV) Contrary to what many people assume, attitude is not the same thing as character. It is not behaviour. It is not your belief. Attitude is a lot more than these things. As a matter of facts, attitude affects and determines those things; but those things in and of themselves do not constitute attitude. Unless we understand what attitude is, we may not truly appreciate the scripture above. We would not be able to determine the attitude that Jesus had, and be able to adopt the same attitude. In the United States and a large part of the North America, the word "attitude" is used to express an uncooperative behaviour. For instance, one might say: "I tried talking with him, but all I got was attitude"; or "Hey!, don't give me attitude". But none of these fully explains what attitude is. Simply put, attitude is habit - mental habit! Our mental habit constitutes our attitude. What exactly is a mental habit? It is an adopted way of thinking, a mindset. A way of thinking or state of mind that has been acquired or adopted about a particular thing. Attitude varies. .
This is why it is possible as a person to have different attitudes about different things. We can have a certain attitude towards school and education; a different attitude towards business; a different attitude toward God and religion; yet another different attitude toward family. All these attitudes refer to the way we react or respond to such issues. They refer to our mental habits, our mental traditions, our mental norms... A way of thinking that we have adopted for ourselves. Our mental culture! Everything about us revolve around our attitude. But is there an attitude that controls every other attitudes? The answer is yes. And it is this particular attitude that the Bible refers to in Phil 2:5. There is a super attitude from which all these other attitudes inherits or emanates from. It is our attitide towards our self! The way we think about our self reflects on every other thing we do. Our attitude or mindset towards our self is very important as it affects every other attitudes we may posses.
In the proceeding lessons, we shall be discussing this attitude. Stay blessed!
To be continued...