Bad attitudes are black holes. Now, I’m a pastor by trade, not an astrophysicist, so forgive me if I’m a bit inaccurate in the particulars of what happens in those mysterious heavenly phenomena. Like black holes, bad attitudes really suck all light into themselves. Everything that gets too close gets swallowed up.
A certified grump, who is full of bitter complaints and seething resentments, can turn every room or situation either into a broiler room or a walk-in freezer. Such sinful dispositions have an incredible gravitational pull to cause anyone who gets close to simply slip into the grip of the grumpiness. It might be out of despair, fear, anger, or laziness, but when sinful moods are allowed to prevail in a relationship (whether in a marriage, family, church, friendship, or business) it is certain to make everyone miserable.
If you are the grump, you might develop a perverse joy in seeing how your foul mood sucks the life out of all those around you. You may know that what you’re doing is wrong. But, you simply don’t know how to refrain from the pleasure you find in making folks revolve around your ever-changing moods. If you find yourself orbiting such a grump you might scratch your head as to how in the world you can escape the clutches of the black hole which has emerged in your living room.
For both the grump and those in their gravitational orbit the only way out is gratitude and joy. Gratitude arises when you realize that God, through Christ, has pardoned you for all your sins. Joy arises when you trust that God looks at you in Christ and delights in you. This faith and the thankful rejoicing that arises from it, is irrepressible. Such faith is the only thing potent enough to attain a sufficient escape velocity.
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