Long before William James, the Father of American psychology, was attributed with saying, ‘The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes,’ God said, ‘As he thinks in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). It can often be our thoughts, not our circumstances, that determine our happiness. We keep thinking we’ll be happy when certain things happen. For example, someone might say, ‘When I get a job, I’ll be happy.’ And they are, for a while. Next, ‘When I have a new supervisor, I’ll be happy.’ And they are, at least until their new supervisor moves on. Next, the opportunity of a pay increase brings the same promise; so does a chance for promotion, and the prospect of retirement. But the problem is, the person hasn’t learned how to be content between the ‘happenings’. When our happiness is controlled by something outside ourselves, we’ll always be hostage to people, places, and things. That’s not how God wants us to live – a victim of circumstances beyond our control. The psalmist said, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth’ (Psalm 34:1 KJV). David chose the right attitude, and we have to do the same! We also must maintain it. That’s the hard part. It’s like the old farmer who said, ‘The hardest thing about milking cows is – they don’t stay milked!’ And it’s the same with attitudes; they don’t stay changed. wE have to work on them every day; it’s called ‘renewing…your mind’. And the way to do it is by getting into God’s Word and getting His Word into us. So, are you doing that regularly?
