Attitude Toward God

This evening, we are going to talk about Attitude once again… and I want to start off with the verse we looked at briefly last week. It is found in Ephesians 4:22-24

Ephesians 4:22–24 NIV

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

What this verse says to us is simple. Believers are taught and encouraged to “put off” or separate themselves from their old self. What does this mean?

It means that when we come into relationship with Jesus… there ought to be a change. We are no longer the same person we used to be! We no longer live like we used to live.

When we give our lives to Jesus, we commit ourselves to following His ways and truth.

This means, we look less like the world… and become more like Jesus.

This is true regarding our outward behavior. It is also true regarding our attitude! We need to have a Christ-like attitude!

Our goal or main idea in this series is simple: Our attitudes should be made new as we strive to be holy as Christ is holy.

Has anyone ever found themselves in need… of a new or renewed attitude?

This evening, we are going to talk about our attitude… toward God. This might seem odd but hear me out. How we view God and our attitude toward Him makes a huge difference in our walk with Him.

And… this is a hot topic conversation starter in our world today.

Many people have what I will call destructive attitudes toward God. What kind of things might cause a person to have a destructive attitude toward God?

Angry at God because something didn’t go the way they wanted.

Indifferent regarding God because they don’t believe in Him.

Sad because God didn’t heal someone or help someone like they had hoped for.

Sometimes God does things exactly the way we hoped for. Other times, God does things in ways we do not fully understand. Regardless… GOD IS STILL GOOD AND WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE.

AND… many times… when things don’t seem to be going right… many times it is because of our doing… not God’s.

Yes… there are moments when things happen that are completely out of our control. But a person cannot blame God for hurtful results of bad choices. The cool thing is - GOD IS THERE TO HELP US IN OUR GOOD AND BAD CHOICES.

Having and maintaining the right attitude toward God is extremely important in our walk with Him. It is also important in our talk about Him.

How we feel about God and how we talk about God… can and will impact how others feel and talk about Him.

No matter what kind of situations we might find ourselves in, God is worthy of our highest praise and affection… and we will talk about why in a moment. There are four key attitudes I want to look at quickly and four destructive attitudes we need to watch out for.

Four Key Attitudes

Love

This is the first and most important attitude we need to display. Believers need to express a loving attitude toward God.

When it comes to our walk with God, love is everything.

Love was why God sent is Son to die for us. Love is what held Jesus to the cross. Love is why God is not distant… it is why He helps us, heals us, and forgives us of our sins.

God’s love for us goes beyond the understanding of this world. His love for us remains… even when we choose not to love Him back.

The Bible tells us that even in our sin and rebellion, God loves us.

Romans 5:8 NIV

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Bible also tells us that nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Romans 8:38–39 NIV

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s love for us in unquestionable! What is questionable… is our love for Him. We must make a choice to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37-38)

Matthew 22:37–38 NIV

37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

This is the greatest command in all of Scripture according to Jesus. It means we must love God with all that we are.

Having an attitude of love toward God opens the door for us to receive what God has for us. Without it, we will miss out on His blessings in our lives.

Trust

Again, this is a BIG one. Why? Because if you don’t trust someone, you will have a hard time following them.

Proverbs 3:5-6 gives some amazing insight as to what trusting in God looks like and what it leads to.

Proverbs 3:5–6 NIV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

how does this text say we are to trust Him?

With all our heart

in submission to His ways

What are we NOT to do?

Lean on our own understanding

What will result when we trust in Him?

Straight paths. In other words - God will guide us and lead us. He doesn’t promise no obstacles, but He does promise a clear and direct path.

Trusting God means trusting His Word and His ways. It means we go with what He says instead of what the world says.

Obedience

Speaking of going with what God says, the next attitude is obedience. This means we obey His words and commands. And this attitude stem off another attitude we already talked about - love.

When the attitude of obedience and the attitude of love are both present… we will naturally follow the instructions and commands of God. This won’t be obligation, it will be honor - we obey to honor the Lord.

We all know what it means to follow the “rules.” And… how many would be honest in saying that maybe you don’t always follow the rules that are given to you?

When it comes to obeying God’s instruction, believers should do this in honor of who God is and what He has done for us. Our love for Him compels us to do as He leads us to do.

AND… contrary to what the world might tell you..s God’s ways are GOOD! He has good things in store for those who listen and obey His Words.

Look at Jesus’s words at the end of His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:24-27

Matthew 7:24–27 NIV

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

When we live out His words, they become an unshakable and unbreakable foundation to our lives.

Humility

Do we know what it means to be humble? it means we realize that God is greater than I! It means that we don’t place ourselves above God… it means we recognize His power, His strength, and His authority.

Humble is the opposite of arrogance. Arrogance tells us we are the biggest, baddest, force to be reckoned with. Humility tells us… we are nothing without God.

Consider this: what or where would we be without the Lord today? If God had not done for us what He did… all of us would be perishing… all of us would be facing certain spiritual death because of sin. But God didn’t leave us in our sin problem… He made a way through Jesus.

Paul was so overcome by God’s love and grace that he talked about it this way in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NIV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul knew God’s grace was carrying him through! Therefore, through his humble attitude, Paul gave God all the glory and boasted not of his own strength but in the strength he received from God!

Humbleness positions us to receive from the Lord!

Four Destructive Attitudes

Entitlement

Entitlement is a growing and troubling attitude. Entitlement tells us we deserve… we have a right to… we shouldn’t have to work for… Entitlement is a very dangerous and destructive attitude.

We should NEVER approach God with this attitude. Why? Because God owes us nothing. God doesn’t have to do any good for us… yet because of His grace… HE DOES!

Selfishness

Selfishness is closely related to entitlement. Selfishness places our focus on us instead of God. Instead of asking God what we can give, selfishness has us focused on what we get.

Selfishness moves us from serving to receiving. It places us here to gain instead of give. Selfishness asks “what is in it for me?” instead of “what can I give for God?”

Rebellion

This is the opposite of of obedience. Rebelling against God means choosing to disobey the Lord and His commands. This places us in a bad spot spiritually.

God still loves us… but God is no longer able to bless us or move in us for our rebellion. Rebellion aligns us with the things that are not of God and we will miss out on the many blessings God has for us.

Complacency

Uh oh… have you ever found yourself complaining? Have you ever complained… to God? Complacency gets us focused on what we don’t have instead of on what we do have in God.

Complacency brings our whole self down. It is very negative and if left unchecked… can be very destructive in our walk with the Lord.

Wrap Up

Your attitude matters. It matters in your relationship with others… and it matters in your relationship with God.

There are times when you might go through situations that will tempt your attitude to go south. There are times when doubt, anger, or other feelings might cause you to want to have a bad attitude toward God.

God is here to help you overcome these situations. His love and grace will carry you through. His Word will act as a guiding light. His strength will become your power. But your attitude must remain in a good place toward Him in order for you to experience these things.

The enemy will try to get you to view God in a bad way. His one desire is to pull you away from the Lord. If Satan can get you to think of God as bad, or as absent, or as old fashioned, irrelevant, or uncaring, then he knows he can cause a rift in your relationship with the Lord.

Think of it like this: Have you ever had anyone say something bad about someone you knew wasn’t true? What did you do?

Chose not to believe it.

Now, what would happen if someone said something that wasn’t true and you took it to heart? It might cause you to look at the person differently.

My point is this: don’t take what the world has to say about God… listen to what the WORD has to say about God and let your attitude be formulated by such revelation!

Closing prayer

God, help us all to have the right attitude toward you.