Week Five - Replace a Critical Attitude

I apologize for the delay in this week's post. We are studying this week how to identify a critical attitude and replace it. Having a critical attitude causes us to be in the wilderness spiritually. Criticism is to dwell on the perceived faults of another with no view to their good. This type of attitude can eat away at you and pull you further and further away from God.

Let's look at some of the reasons we may have a critical attitude.
* Unforgiveness - Maybe you have not forgiven someone of a wrong they have done and you criticize everything they do. Your criticism is just covering for an unforgiving heart.
* Bitterness - No one can see bitterness, but before long it squirms its way around your heart and strangles your love for God. Bitterness is the pain of heart caused by living apart from God's grace.
* Envy and Resentment - Sometimes we are critical because we are jealous of someone's success and we try to pull that person down to our level.
* Careless, Thoughtless Words - Many times the critical words we say are just careless words, us not thinking before we speak.
* Pride - When we criticize someone, we are really trying to lift ourselves up, to make ourselves look better. Criticism also cloaks insecurity. We criticize to take the focus off of our faults.

This is not a problem with our mouths, it's a problem with our hearts. Through God's Word, we need to do "heart surgery" and remove these attitudes that strangle our love for Him. If we truly study His Word and apply it to our lives, we will have no room for criticism in our hearts and lives.

Week Four - ...With Contentment

Last week we learned how to replace a covetous attitude. This week we are going to see that we need to replace covetousness with contentment.

Contentment...has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Makes you feel peaceful and at rest. We may think that we can only have contentment in our dreams, but we can be content is this life. We need to be content with what God has given us and know that He is all we need.

Contentment is...
* a satisfaction with what God has provided.
* to rest in what you have and to seek nothing more.
* a settled sense of adequacy.

Contentment is not just being satisfied with the things we own, but being satisfied with the situation we are in. If you are single, be content with that. If you are married, be content with that. If you have a job at all, be content with it. This list could go on and on. Contentment definitely goes against the grain, especially in our "get what you want and get it now" society.

Only God can give us true contentment. Have you ever purchased anything thinking "If I just had _____, then I would be happy"? It didn't work, did it? So many times in our lives we feel that if we had more money, a different job, a new car, etc. that we will be happy. The truth is, we have everything we need to be content in Jesus Christ.

I pray that each of us would see that Christ is all we need.

Week Two - Closing

Again, this has been a week where my toes have been stepped on...HARD! Covetousness is not something I would have told you a week ago that I have a problem with. We all need to peel back the layers of our heart and see where our commitment lies. Do we really live for God 100% and allow Him to supply us with the desires of our heart, or do we take matters into our own hands and get what we want when we want it? Unfortunately, most people, myself included, just get things when we want them.

We live in a society where we have to have it now...we even get impatient waiting on the microwave!!! We need to learn to be content with what we have. Do we really need the new car, house, clothes, shoes, electronics, appliances, etc.? This list could go on forever. If you are like me, I own each of these things already, but when something bigger or better comes along I start hating the things I do have, thinking the newer version is somehow going to be better than what I already own.

This week has really been an eye-opener. Covetousness hinders us from growing spiritually. We put the desire to obtain possessions over the desire to grow closer to God and seek Him. I realize now that wanting "things" is just a way to fill a void in me that only God can fill. If I am truly satisfied and content with my life and my possessions, and seek God in everything I do, I will not have the desire to want things that will only end up as trash anyway.

We are not going to take anything we own with us when we die. Only what we have done for God and His kingdom will last in the end.