“You need an attitude adjustment!”

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
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“You need an attitude adjustment!” Has anyone ever spoken those words to you? Perhaps you heard those words from a parent at a time when you thought you ruled the world. Most likely it was during your younger years, perhaps when you were an invincible teenager – or so you thought. After all, you wondered, what do those old people know anyway?

Now, perhaps a little later in life, a little wiser too, you realize exactly what they were saying. You look back on those care free days when your responsibilities were less and see just how foolish you were. Thank goodness they took the time to point out your need for an attitude adjustment, even if it took a few years to sink in.

But now that you’re older and wiser your attitude is just perfect – or is it? The apostle Paul gives us important words to consider. “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Paul sets the standard for our attitude – Christ Jesus! And, so that we might begin to understand and grasp our Savior’s attitude, the apostle gives us the best example of a perfect attitude – Jesus’ humility.

Jesus had it all – the glory, the power, the majesty of God and yet he willingly set it all aside. For our sakes, because of our sinful rebellious attitudes and resulting actions, he willingly put off full use of his divine glory for a time, because it was time to do his Father’s will – even though it was going to cost him his life. That is what this week, called Holy Week, is all about. Tomorrow we observe how Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper. Friday we see the culmination of his complete humility as he was crucified, died and was buried – all to pay for our sins. What an amazing display of perfect humility and wondrous love!

Such an act of love, such perfect humility we can never perfectly achieve – but Paul still holds that as the standard. Not that we must achieve that high standard in order to get into heaven. No, that’s impossible. Rather, we strive to have a humble attitude like Jesus as a way for us to say “Thank You” to him for saving us from our sins and giving us eternal life. May God continue to foster in us Christ’s attitude of humility.