In episode 200, “Have a Positive Attitude”, Brooke & Faren discuss the meaning of Philippians 2:13-14 in the Bible. Hear what Paul says to the Philippians about how we can honor God through our attitude in obedience. We use our © Read Pray Talk Tell Method to discover ways we can practically live this scripture out in everyday life. The Philippians mini series begins on episode 199 and goes through episode 203 of the Witty & Gritty podcast.
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Reading Quality Life Advice
In last week’s episode we talked about gaining perspective from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. This week, we’re going to touch on life advice about how to have a positive attitude with our scripture. Keep in mind the spirit of the letter, and the fact that Paul wrote this from prison to his friends.
We highly encourage you to go read the full chapter two of Philippians because it sets us up nicely for verses 13 & 14.
“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing”
Philippians 2:13-14
Good news here! God is working in you, He gives you the desire to do what He wants, and He gives you the power to do it. This means, that you can fulfill your God given purpose because He is constantly equipping us.
But wait, there’s more! Don’t forget what the very next verse says…no grumbling or questioning. We know that sometimes we don’t want to do the right thing, but we know that God working in us will get us there if we can listen, obey, and *perk* not whine along the way.
Pray for Your Attitude
Take a minute to use YouVersion and switch between different translations on verse 14. We looked at the ESV and NLT versions and four different words were used. How do the following look in your life in how you typically respond:
- Grumbling
- Complaining
- Arguing
- Questioning
Quite the gut check, especially when it’s a certain situation or person in particular. Maybe it’s the talkative coworker, the friend who needs a favor (again), or the kid that still needs help with cleaning up. Did you know that these are opportunities to serve in love? Here are some prayers we talked about in this section about how to have positive attitude:
- Help me want to do ____.
- If this is your desire, please change the desires of my heart
- Please help me not grumble or complain
Talk About the Blind Spots
We’ve all experienced this…that one person who always has something negative to say. They’re the Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer. Friends, we cannot be this person, nor can we allow someone we love to be this person. We must boldly, lovingly call this sin out of each other.
There have been plenty of times we didn’t realize we were being negative, until it the light was on it. Be those good friends who love each other enough to help them through whatever is causing this. Remember, healthy vulnerability is so valuable. Call each other out in a gentle spirit of love, and find a way to keep each other accountable.
Who is in your life who can call it out of you? How will you respond when this happens? Make a plan now with your inner circle, and be kind to one another through these phases. Pray for each other and the conversations that may need to happen. As Christians, we should all want to have a positive attitude.
Tell Them Why
Have you ever had that fun moment when your child definitely grumbles, complains, questions, and argues? We can’t be the only ones! When this happens, take a moment to stop, breathe, and ask ourselves:
- Do I do this when God prompts me to do something?
- Am I in the bad habit of complaining, grumbling, arguing, and questioning?
It doesn’t take us long to hold up that mirror and sure see the error of our ways. This is where grace and mercy come into play! When we teach our child to have a positive attitude, modeling is certainly a part of the learning process.
We dive into how to explicitly teach this skill to children in the episode, so be sure to scroll back up and press play. This is where you can get some buy in from your sweet, precious, angelic children. We even give the parenting hack for when your kid constantly asks, “Why?” when you ask them to complete a task.
We hope you enjoyed episode 200, “Have a Positive Attitude”, through our © Read Pray Talk Tell Method. Now it’s up to you to work through the Bible chapter discussed, pray about this verse using the prompts given, have biblical community around this verse, and go point others to Christ with the tips we give. Remember, when you read, pray, talk, tell consistently, you’ll grow your faith in God more deeply. Tune in next week to hear another breakdown of a Bible verse!
