Develop A Winning Attitude
Philippians 3:12-14
The Apostle Paul gives helpful counsel in the book of Philippians on how to develop a winning attitude.
Both of our boys and one daughter played little league baseball. When they were on Little League teams we were in Taylor, Michigan planting a new FMC. My experience in Little League is that parents want to win with a greater passion than their children.
This past week I read in the Mercury News that San Francisco put a moratorium on parents yelling at their children playing soccer. At the last week end soccer games mum was the word for parents or fans. Only coaches were allowed to say anything while the game was being played.
I tried to teach my kids that a winning attitude is being able to lose gracefully.
I have to admit that when I’m playing tennis I have more fun when I win but I have great fellowship and exercise when I lose. When I lose I feel like I’m in the ministry of encouragement.
The Apostle Paul is writing from prison to stay connected to the Philippian church while incarcerated. He gives wise counsel to the church. His words are inspired by the risen Lord.
1. Focus on the Future. (Philippians 3:12-14)
He counsels Christians to focus on the future. He says: “Not that I have already obtained all this (he is referring back to verse 10 where he says he wants to know Christ and the power of His resurrection) or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Paul confessed that he had not arrived in his Christian life. “He had not become perfect.” As long as we live in a human body we will be limited by this body. In the power of the Holy Spirit you can have perfect love and perfect motives, but you will not achieve perfection until you reach heaven. In this life you will lack some wisdom, some strength, and make mistakes.
If Paul wanted to he could have boasted – he had started many new churches, influenced many to know Jesus, and traveled widely as a missionary. He was totally honest and live with integrity when he said: “I have not arrived spiritually.”
Here is a great lesson you can learn from Paul. He said, “This one thing I do. I forget all my past accomplishments and I press toward the future.” Prior to my transformation experience on the Damascus Road when I saw the risen Christ, I pursued with a passion Christians to put them in jail and cause havoc in the church. Now with that same passion I pursue Christ.”
Paul did not testify that when he accepted Jesus as his Messiah and Lord on the road to Damascus that he arrived. As long as he lived he would be on the stretch for God.
When you surrender your life to Jesus it is your beginning. It’s like stepping on the first step on a long stair case. You keep walking up the stairs until you walk into the arms of Jesus in heaven. The stairs are not an escalator that carries you up without any effort. You have to move up step by step.
Christians in the early church practiced basic spiritual disciplines to maintain spiritual health and growth. (Acts 2:42-27): The early Christians devoted themselves to: the Apostles Teaching, to worship, prayer, and Christian fellowship. As a consequence the Lord added new believers to the church day by day.
To focus on the future means that you do as Paul practiced in his life: “Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead…”
Paul had much to forget. He could have lived with regret his entire life. He regretted leading in the stoning of Stephan, a lay minister and devout follower of Jesus. He regretted causing havoc to the church of Jesus Christ.
Paul may have dealt with bitterness…Bitter for being lead astray by Pharisees and Jewish scholars. Bitterness is unresolved anger turned inward. Bitterness becomes hate. Hate toward someone that has wronged you. Bitterness is the opposite of sweetness. Instead of sweetening everything in life, it sours everything in life.
By the grace and love of God Paul could testify that he was forgetting all that was past.
It is only by the grace and mercy of god that you can forget the past. You may have had experiences in the past that caused you deep hurts. You may have been abused, experienced injustices, bitterness, hatred, and rejection by those you loved. Forgetting – healing of memories – only comes from the grace and love of God.
To dwell on the past or focus on the future is up to you. It is a choice you make. You can wallow in the past or chose to focus on the future. Paul testified in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.”
This morning praise God you can change.
# Dr. Robert Coleman was a seminary professor I had at Asbury seminary. He lived across from a cemetery in Wilmore, KY. He said that whenever he walked out of his house he was reminded that a day was coming when the dead in Christ would be raised up.
I read about a man that took a short cut through a cemetery on a dark black night. He was drunk and in the darkness stumbled into a freshly dug grave. At first he tried to get out, but then, in his drunken stupor, he sat down in one corner of the grave and went to sleep.
A little later, a young man, who had just taken his girl friend home, decided to take a shortcut through the cemetery. As he was running along, he fell with a thud into the same hole. Scared to death, he picked himself up and desperately started trying to climb out of the hole. When he couldn’t get out, he really panicked. He started crying out: “Help, help!” “I can’t get out, I can’t get out.”
At that point the old drunk in the corner woke up and shuffled over to the young man and said, “No, you can’t get out.”
And guess what? He did. He was motivated to change his circumstance.
The Apostle Paul was motivated to leave behind the past and press toward the prize – what is the prize? Knowing Christ.
2. Live with A Servant’s Heart. Phil. 2:1-13
Paul declared that person’s with a winning attitude first “focuses their life on the future.” Second, they “live with a Servant’s heart.” A person with a winning attitude is one that has a servant’s heart.
Paul encourages each of us when he writes: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.” Jesus is our model and example.
Jesus humbled himself. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is equal with God. Jesus did not have his beginning in a lowly manger. Jesus existed before this world and universe were created. Jesus humbled himself and took on the form of man. He became a human with flesh and blood. He felt pain. He felt anger. He felt sorrow. Jesus said: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:11)
Jesus served others. Jesus said he did not come to earth to be served and to serve others. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) Jesus did not come as a superstar. He came as a lowly carpenter. Jesus was never too proud to do whatever it took to glorify His Heavenly Father.
Jesus demonstrated how to serve with a towel and basin. Jesus took on the role of a servant to his own disciples. His logo would have been a towel and basin and not a whip and chair like a lion tamer.
At the last supper in the upper room his disciples were sitting around the table. Their feet were dirty and smelly from walking all day on the dusty roads. Jesus took a towel and basin and went to each one and washed their feet. When Jesus finished he said: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15
Jesus encouraged others to lead. From the beginning of his public ministry Jesus developed a team ministry. He chose 12 disciples to become part of his ministry team.
C. Gene Wilkes, in his book, Jesus on Leadership, writes:
Jesus did not come to gain a place of power.
He did not come to defeat his human enemies.
He did not come to overthrow an unjust government.
Jesus came to show us the heart of God. His entire message and ministry on earth was to show selfish, power-hungry people like you and me what love looks like. As he knelt before Judas, Jesus showed us a love that no human can conceive on his own: a love that is brutally honest about what is going on but still kneels before us to lay down his life so we can be free from the sin that infects us. Jesus loves you as he loved Judas. If you miss that, you have missed eternal life.” P. 168
According to Paul the way to a winning attitude is to “Focus on the Future,” “Live with a Servant’s Heart,” and
3. Practice the Praise Principle. Phil. 4:4-9
Paul throughout his life accentuated the positive. He practiced the praise principle. Phil. 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
Which of these four songs reveals your attitude toward life?
(1) “Make the World Go Away”
(2) “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head”
(3) “I did it My Way”
(4) ‘Oh, What a beautiful morning”
Paul practiced the praise principle even when confined to a prison. He looked beyond his confinement, beyond lonely nights, and beyond hardships. He said to Philippian Christians praying for him: “Don’t feel sad for me. Praise the Lord because what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. The Roman guards have heard the good news of the Gospel. Jesus is changing lives.” From Phil. 1:12-14
Do you think the Apostle Paul ever got discouraged? Sure he did. While confined to prison Paul mentions many friends that came to him and gave him comfort and encouragement. His friends kept him encouraged in his service for the Lord. The best leaders have times of discouragement. The key is to not stay down in the pit of despair.
# The story is told of a farmer that had a mule that accidentally fell into a deep well on his farm. The farmer tried everything he could to get his mule out. Finally he decided to bury the mule. He dumped a truckload of dirt on the mule. Dust began to fly and the mule stomped and snorted until he was on top of the dirt pile. After a few more truckloads of dirt the mule rose triumphantly to the top and walked out.
When life kicks you let it kick you upward and forward.
There are several practical things you can do to practice the praise principle.
(1) Practice giving thanks in every circumstance for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thess. 5:18
Why not try practicing saying positive words to everyone you meet? Positive words build people up and create a creative, loving, positive atmosphere. When you speak critical, negative words you create suspicion, mistrust and an attitude of failure. The Proverb writer wrote “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22)
An older pastor’s wife was known for her ability to make positive comments about every facet of her husband’s Florida ministry. The church choir, however, consisting as it did of seniors in their 70s and 80s, had defied positive but truthful comment.
She finally solved the problem one Sunday morning. As the choir members filed into the choir loft, she leaned over to the choir director and remarked, "Aren’t they walking well this morning?"
When you accentuate the positive you can find something good in every person and situation.
# A small business man’s was threatened to go out of business. A national chain store had moved in and acquired all the properties on his block. This small businessman refused to sell. The national chain attorneys said he would be sorry because the new large store would build all around him and put him out of business. The day came when the small merchant found himself hemmed in with a new department store stretching out on both sides of his little retail shop. The competitors’ banners announced, “Grand Opening!” The merchant countered with his own banner stretching across the entire width of his store. It read: “Main Entrance.”
When the leaders of the Army of Israel saw the giant Goliath they said, “He’s too big for us to fight.” David looked at Goliath and said, “He’s too big to miss.”
(2). Surround yourself with positive people. The Apostle Paul continually recruited prayer partners. His prayer partners build him up in prayer and with encouraging words. Negative people do not pray for you and tend to pull you down.
When you are surrounded by positive people you can turn obstacles into opportunities. Paul surrounded himself with a team of positive people; therefore he could write: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed and broken. We are perplexed because we don’t know why things happen as they do, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.” (2 Corinthians 4:8,9 Living Bible
By an act of your will you can chose to live by Phil. 4:8 “Finally, brothers, 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.”
In your family and marriage what do you look for? Do you look for faults, what is wrong, or do you look for ways to bring the best out of your mate and children? How do you break a negative, nit-picking, fault-finding, destructive cycle in a marriage? Stop centering on what’s wrong. Start looking for what is right and good and focus on those things. The fact is there is good and bad in everyone. The difference is what you focus on.
Tell your children how much you appreciate them. Give them more praise than criticism. If your children or spouse can’t find appreciation at home they’ll find it some where else. Everyone needs to be appreciated.
This week you can enjoy a winning attitude.
1. Focus on the future
2. Live with a servant’s heart
3. Practice the Praise Principle
