A L M A C I A S

LET US DO THINGS WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

Have you ever known people who seem to do most things with a bad attitude? You ask someone to do you a favor and they do it, but with a bad disposition. When people act like this, you do not feel like asking them for future favors; as a matter of fact, you even regret having asked them for the first favor. On the other hand, when people do things for you with the right attitude, you feel very appreciative and happy that there are still people who approach tasks in that manner. Having a bad attitude can be a very serious problem in all aspects of our lives. Whether it be at the work place, at schools or universities ­ anywhere we may be ­ our attitude makes a significant difference in how we deal with our given circumstances.

If having a good attitude is so important in the day-to-day areas of our lives, having a good attitude in religious matters is of greater importance. In Luke 18:9-14, we find the Lord referring to a parable in which a Pharisee and a publican went to the temple to pray. Praying unto God is a commandment from God, but not only a commandment, a privilege which has been given to all who are children of God. The Lord told this parable because there were some who were trusting in themselves as being righteous and at the same time were despising others. These people were guilty of having a bad attitude. These two men had gone to the temple to pray. They had gone to do a good thing; however, one had gone to pray with the wrong attitude, and because of that, what he did was unacceptable. When these two men left the temple following their praying to God, the Lord said that only one had left justified, while the other left the temple in just the same way he had come ­ unjustified. We know that the Pharisee was the guilty one, not only because the Lord declared him to be so, but we can know from what he had to say as he prayed. The Pharisee was so full of himself that he kept referring to himself and what a great person he was. He was trying to exalt himself at the expense of others, even at the expense of the publican who also had gone to the temple to pray. The publican prayed with a very different attitude. He was truly sorry for what he had done, and this he showed by his humility in not even lifting his eyes up to heaven, as well as by what he said ­ "God be merciful to me a sinner." With what kind of attitude do we obey God¹s commandments? Let us do all things that we do for the Lord with the right attitude, else we also will have the same outcome this Pharisee had: a sad one, indeed.