Bad 'tudes, Dark Moods, And Soul Food

Tonight we are going to talk about attitude, mood swings, and positive influence. Our attitudes are really truly under our control, and through them we can greatly influence others for good or bad.

By show of hands, how many of you have ever had a bad day? I want you to think about the worst day you’ve recently had and how it affected your attitude and mood. Maybe someone helped or encouraged you that day, or maybe no one encouraged you. Let’s look at what to do about poor attitudes and bad moods.

I. Attitude and mood come from soul food!

Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Proverbs 15:15 All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Our attitudes color our whole personalities. Our attitudes are fed by what we feed our souls. Now the old saying is true: garbage in, garbage out. But it’s not the whole truth because the following are also true: positive in, positive out; beauty in, beauty out; love in, love out; and confidence in, confidence out.

Many times we end up in a funk because we feed our souls a constant diet of dark junk. If we feed our souls a steady diet of moody, dark, negative, defeatist, hopeless thoughts, music, and media, let’s not be surprised when negativity, hopelessness, and depression are the most natural things we feel. Let’s not be shocked when these are the first things that come out at the slightest challenge in our lives.

Stop the junk and starve the funk! Say it with me: Stop the junk and starve the funk! Let’s have a continual feast on the goodness of life.

What difference can feeding yourself some good, positive soul food make in your life?

II. Attitude and mood are a choice!

How important is attitude? How difficult is it to choose a different attitude? How will staying in control of our attitudes benefit us?

Read Psalm 42:3-11

The Psalmist was overcome with sorrow; his tears were his “food day and night.” He poured out his soul – this guy was overwhelmed. He described the depth of his pain. But at the end of the psalm, the psalmist made a triumphant and profound choice. Mustering up all that was in him, with the help of the Spirit of God, he boldly proclaimed and commanded his soul, “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.”

What can we learn from the psalmist? Go to God with the pain, ask him to help you. Then do what he tells you to do. It may be a decision like the psalmist made. God may put someone on your heart to go talk to. He could also call you to serve or encourage someone else who’s down.

Have you ever noticed that when you get into someone else’s problem, it help you forget your own?

You know, I can easily imagine the psalmist, “leading the procession to the house of God.” He reached out to others rather than sulk in his own suffering. Often this will be the choice that God lays before us as well.

III. Attitude and mood are contagious!

2 Corinthians 3:2-3 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

Just as the people Paul was addressing were like letters from Jesus, known and read by all, we, too, are letters. People read your life everyday. What are they seeing? Hearing? Feeling? How can you use this for God? What are your attitudes and moods saying to other people about you? About God? Your attitude and mood communicate a lot about you. We need to be sure that what our “letters” say is pleasing to God and loving toward others.

Our attitudes and moods say so much about us. And when responsibly chosen, they can be such important tools to lead others to God and His love. Our attitude and mood are chosen and fueled by our soul food. If you want to change them tonight, you can – it’s your choice.