The Christian Attitude

There is a Christian attitude toward life.

There is an outlook, a perspective, a mindset that a Christian ought to have every day, all day long.

It’s to Christian living what Florida is to citrus fruit and the Mississippi Delta is to cotton and a loving mom and dad are to a healthy childhood.  This attitude is the habitat of a thriving Christianity.    

I call the Christian attitude toward life Grace Focused Optimism. 

The Importance of The

The Christian attitude toward life is optimism.  Let the definite article linger in your mind like the star’s name on the movie screen as the opening credits role.  It’s not a typo.  It’s not an overstatement.  I won’t walk it back an inch.  I use the article as our Savior uses it in his famous statement, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  To emphasize singularity.

There’s only one Savior.

And there’s only one appropriate attitude toward life for a believer.

This is the attitude of optimism.

True Optimism

 By optimism I don’t mean the ill-fitting, off-the-rack rip off unbelievers wear.  That’s way too small for the robust mental physique of Christianity.

By optimism I mean the confidence in God that flows from the way he’s joined his glory and our good in Jesus, the hand-tailored suit and designer dress made of the finest fabric there is.  That fabric is grace.  God’s grace in Jesus gives every Christian reason to be optimistic every day, all day long.

This optimism isn’t automatic.  There’s no thermostat you set causing it to go on and off.  It’s a fireplace fire.  You’ve got to build it and tend it. 

Focusing on grace does this. 

As you focus on grace every day, all day long, you’ll live with the attitude God wants you to have. 

Focusing on grace is a learned skill.  It’s like reading or driving a car or a thousand and one other skills we’ve all mastered to PhD level.

Whatever your temperament, whatever your past, whatever your present, whatever your circumstances, you can learn to live as a Grace Focused Optimist.

I know because I’m learning to live with this attitude.   

If grace can make a Grace Focused Optimist out of a congenital pessimist like me, someone naturally more negative than the mainstream media toward conservative values, grace can do the same for you.

To and Through

I once heard a preacher say, “God will give to you what God can give through you.”

I believe this.

I believe God has given this truth of Grace Focused Optimism to me so he can give it through me.  I believe this so much that my mission statement is God has put me here to exalt him and encourage others by practicing and promoting Grace Focused Optimism.

I’m trying to fulfill my mission with this blog.  I pray God will use it to make you the Grace Focused Optimist he wants you to be.