Tag: bad attitude

Your Compassion

Old Testament: Jonah 3 & 4

Poetry: Psalm 134

New Testament: Matthew 20

I do not care for the ending of Jonah.  It is such a cliffhanger to me.  I love to read stories.  And when I read stories, my judgment on the quality is if it makes my stomach clench throughout.  Even a book I have re-read 5 times can have that same effect on me.  I know I’m involved with the characters when that happens.  And Jonah is a pretty good story.  But if the ending of this book was in the ending of another book I have read, I would be quite upset.  I want to know what happened!

So post-preaching to the Ninevites, Jonah has a bad attitude.  He starts out in a good mood, sitting down to wait for the smiting of his enemies.  But as time goes on and it doesn’t happen, he gets grumpy.  To the point of comedy in my opinion.

Do we see that in our own lives?  Maybe not the waiting for the smiting of enemies (or maybe for some readers, that is true), but just for the fulfillment of what we want?  Maybe you have something in your mind of how things should go, and you are happily waiting to see that happen.  But when it doesn’t, you get angry, grumpy, and over-dramatic.  Do we stop to think that maybe what we want isn’t always the best way?

God’s response to Jonah in the last chapter is powerful to me.  He says to Jonah, “I made them, who are you to decide they need to die?  You care more about a plant that you didn’t even plant than these living, breathing people that I designed.” (not actually a quote from Scripture – my paraphrase).

Do you ever care more about what you want to have happen than the people God designed?  Again, it might not be that you are waiting for them to die.  But maybe you are more upset that your order at a restaurant was messed up than the fact that the person taking your order was having a really bad day and made a mistake.  Maybe you want so much to be proven that you are the most right about something at school or work or church that you are alienating people that you could be having an impact on?

When you are focused on yourself and what you want, remember that other people matter too. The fact that someone managed to show up for work might be a huge victory for them, even if your order got messed up.  Taking the time to care about people more than your own selfish, petty desires, not only can improve someone else’s life, but your own too.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. How would your rate Jonah’s compassion? God’s compassion? Your compassion?
  2. When do you find yourself more focused on what you want than on what others need and how you can serve them?
  3. What do you learn from Jonah in the book of Jonah? What do you learn about God in the book of Jonah?
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It’s All In The Attitude

I Peter 3

1 Peter 3 8 9

Aretha Franklin said it best in her hit song:   RESPECT – all she needed and wanted  was to be given a little bit of respect.   Are we not the same?  In I Peter 3 the apostle starts off by reminding the readers that they are to give respect and behave respectfully so that others will be won to Christ through their exemplary conduct.    What it all boils down to; summarizing his words is that;  in relationships mutual respect is key for both individuals, having the attitude of  honoring  the other person above themselves.  Imagine if everyone in our world today adopted this same kind of respectful attitude.  What a different world we would live in.

Have you ever seen someone who was dressed beautifully but then opened their mouth to display an ugly attitude?  Isn’t  it always disappointing to see?  In this chapter the apostle Peter reminds us that true beauty is found on the inside.  Our attitudes and  actions towards others speak louder than the clothing or jewelry we wear or the hairstyle we choose.  God desires for us to be beautiful on the inside and shine that outwardly.  In our world today we seem to be bombarded with the notion that beauty can be bought or acquired through purchasing – however true beauty is a quality that cannot be bought or sold.

Further on in verse 7 and 8 He points out that answers to prayer can be hindered by actions and attitudes of not being respectful toward one another.  We are not to be quarrelsome, we are to seek peace and pursue it.  This is the righteous expectation that believers are called to.  In verse 12 we are reminded that the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears attend to their prayers.

We are to live righteous lives being sure of the hope we have in Christ.  In the final section of I Peter 3 the apostle Peter reminds the believers that they are to be sure of the hope they have.  This hope is believing  that Jesus is the only begotten son of God, that his death provides forgiveness and salvation from sin, and that his resurrection gives us the hope of eternal life.  Belief in these things and the outward symbol of baptism is the indicator of the believer’s new life with Christ.   With this new life in Christ, the believer is then called to live a life of righteousness that pleases God our Father.

-Merry Peterson