Yeah, But....

Attitude means a lot.  If you play a sport, whether that sport is football, volleyball, wrestling, basketball or cross country; if you play a sport, you are going to get you share of bumps and bruises and injuries.  Recently I was talking with a group of students about their sports injuries and we noticed how much differently they feel after a win than after a loss.  After a loss, the joints are a little more sore and the bruises are a little more deep.  After a win?  We are saying, "Oh that?  That's nothing."

And just like a good attitude can lift us through the bumps and bruises and hard times, a bad attitude can sour even the most blessed times.  There was a man I once knew who was sour over the news that high wife was expecting a baby.  It was their first child and he was upset.  Now he had gone to college, had a good job with benefits. and life was going along pretty swell.  But he had a plan.  They were going to have a certain amount of money in the bank and own a house and do this and that and THEN it would be time to have kids.  This was happening out of order and it was disrupting his perfect plan.  He couldn't see all of the blessings that he did have.

The point is this.  There are always reason to be happy or sad.  There are always reasons to step up and do or to hang back and sit out.  We can find justification for either course of action.  And this is particularly true in our walk with God.

There are as many reasons to lead a Godly life as there are ways to stray from the path.  It is only a question of our attitude and how is it that we want to be.  We can choose to love our neighbor even when they are not lovable, or we can be angry at them over their inconsideration.   We can find joy in the midst of our trials or we can let the events happening around us define our days.

Watch this clip from Pastor Chris.

No excuses.  Go and do likewise.  

No Excuses.  There are many premade excuses that we could use.  But ultimately we are blessed.  We need to let our appreciation for those blessings shine through us.  That is what joy is all about.