Attitude

Attitude is so important. What is our attitude when we are in conflict or disagreement with someone? In the Bible there are essential and non essential beliefs. That Jesus died for our sins is an essential belief. Some customs are different in cultures around the world. If you were raised in a legalistic environment like I was, you might have some difficulty with Christians and alcohol consumption. If you were raised in Germany, you might think nothing of having a beer. I remember when I was young it bothered me when I saw my Uncle give my Grandfather a big bottle of beer. It was probably common in German culture but not in my legalistic environment.  I have never liked beer, but there are some strong drinks that taste good to me. I have never liked wine either. In Romans the 14 chapter is talking about non-essential issues, it will talk about meat eaters and vegetable eaters and a tolerance between those that believe differently. Love is the key, and considering another persons beliefs on non essential issues. Its not all about us. There have been many church splits over non essential issues. We are to love our brothers and sisters. When we cannot tolerate a difference over non essentials, it shows a lack of love in our hearts.  "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves," Philippians 2:3  "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another."  Romans 14:19  "Owe no man anything, but to love one another; for he that loveth another has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8 "For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Romans 13:9  Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." Romans 13:10 This is some of the stuff we went over in a Sunday School class and it spoke to me as I thought of the attitude I had recently in some conflicts. What comes our of our mouth is a reflection of what is in our hearts. We need love in our hearts. We need to value others above ourselves. A lot of it stems from our attitude. On the essentials of faith there needs to be unity, on non essentials there needs to be freedom. There are many non essentials that we do not have to see eye to eye. If we have love in our hearts, we can tolerate these non-essential differences. The discussion went on and some described various non-essentials that caused conflict. Wearing blue jeans or shorts, casual clothes. Or how about contemporary music versus traditional music,  Or how about if a Church borrows money or does not borrow money for a capital improvement project.  We have seen churches that didn't even allow musical instruments at all. The difficulties I had recently were over politics. Love over everything, if we have God's love in our hearts, we should be able to handle the non-essentials. Create a right spirit within me, O God. Help me with my attitude.  God bless, LVZ.