~ A Letter About Five
Letters ~
introduction: This is
a modified version of a letter I wrote to my grandson on the occasion of his
entering his teen years.
To each
Christian graduate,
We are so
very proud of you to this point of your life!
We continually pray for you because we know that most of your life is
ahead of you. We are also acutely aware
that life is like a football game in that
one or two plays will often determine the outcome. When you line up for each play, you never
know which play will decide winning or losing the game. Likewise, as you arise each morning, you
never know which day will present life-changing choices for good or bad which
will have major impacts on your life’s outcome.
There are
five little letters which will make all the difference in the aim of your
life. Will you be just a person? Or will you be a person of God? We are so glad that you have indicated the latter
choice! Whether your actual trajectory
is successful will depend on your choices
now and each day forward. We would like
to share with you a very important sequence—a domino effect—that will to a
large degree affect your success in hitting your target.
First, and
most important of all, we pray that you will control your thinking. “All of us also
lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and
following its desires and thoughts” (Ephesians 2:3). A basic truth to understand is that your
thoughts will eventually produce results.
“But the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the
Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
The Apostle Paul understood this
principle (2 Corinthians 10:1-5); so did the Apostle Peter (Acts 8:21b-23), the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 4:12), and Solomon—the
wisest man who ever lived (Proverbs 23:7). Certainly Jesus Christ understood
the importance of thoughts! (Matthew 5:21-22, 27-29).
Second, when you repeatedly think in a particular way
it will become an attitude. Attitudes are insidious. You think a particular way just once. But the next time it is easy to think the way
you did the previous time. Before long
you have developed an attitude (a habitual way of thinking). That is why it is critical to constantly test
the correctness of your thinking. “Your attitude should be the same as that of
Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:5). The
battle is easily lost unless you understand that attitudes are formed by
patterns of thinking.
I have found that a good way to change an attitude is
by replacement. Imagine a glass which is
half-full of milk and is glued to a surface.
Your task is to fill the glass with pure water. One way of accomplishing that is to pour a
pitcher of pure water into the glass. As
the glass fills it becomes half water and half milk. As you continue to pour, the water replaces
more and more of the milk until eventually the glass contents are as pure as
the water in the pitcher. You have
replaced the milk with water.
The same is true of attitudes (i.e., thoughts that are
glued in place by becoming an attitude).
Replacement takes a conscious effort on your part! It takes personal discipline—but it works! “Whatever is true, whatever is noble,
whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,
if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things” (Philippians
4:8). “Fix your thoughts on Jesus, the
Apostle and High Priest whom you confess” (Hebrews 3:1). The route to being a person of
God is to be continually “made new in the attitude of your mind” (Ephesians
4:23).
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm
yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body
is done with sin. As a result, he does
not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for
the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2). “Your
attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:5). “Take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5b).
Third,
while thinking leads to attitudes, it does not stop there. Attitudes are important because they are the
most fundamental aspect of motivation—your
motive for taking a particular action.
While it is
true you will sometimes be motivated by positive external factors (such as
rewards) or negative external factors (such as fearing a loss), your most
important motivations will be internal (your developed attitudes). Usually your motivations will be a combination
of two or all three types. One quick
example is the motivation for salvation can be from fear of hell, desire for
the reward of heaven, or an internal response to the grace of God. “You love Him, because He first loved you” (1
John 4:19).
Fourth,
your motivations are critically important since they influence your actions.
Fifth, repeated actions become your lifestyle. The lifestyle you choose to develop is
critically important because it will determine whether you are a person of
God and that in turn has eternal consequences. But remember it all begins with your
thinking.
In 70 plus
years it has been my observation that as people grow older their inner character—who they really are—becomes
increasingly transparent while there reputation—who
people believe they are—becomes increasingly accurate and increasingly aligns
with their character. This is why as
people grow old they usually are seen as either increasingly better or more obviously bitter.
We will
continue to regularly pray for you and your thought life. More importantly, since you have accepted
Jesus Christ as your Savior, He is constantly interceding on your behalf and
the Spirit of God is constantly available to guide and comfort you—but your responsibility is to listen to Him. Life on earth is not easy, but to the degree
you seek to follow God’s way and His will for your life, is the degree to which
you will have increased your capacity to enjoy heaven for all
eternity-future.
Fortunately, God knows you will fail
at times, and He has also provided for that inevitability. “If you confess your sins He is faithful to
forgive you and to cleanse you from all
unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the
wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will put the right desires
[thoughts] in your heart” (Psalm 37:4a).
“Fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is
unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
The underlying important point is that as a human your
soul will live forever. Life on earth is
an extremely tiny portion of forever! We are praying that you will remember this
sequence: Correct Thinking > Divine
Attitudes > Controlled Motivations > Godly Lifestyle > Spiritual
Victory > Keep Fighting > Well done, “good and faithful servant; you have
been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:23). Your
trajectory has brought you to your desired bulls-eye.
In closing, let
us say that since in all likelihood many of us will arrive at our eternal home
before you, be assured we will be waiting for you at your finish line, cheering
you on each step of your way to your heavenly home!
Love
always,
Your
brothers and sisters in Christ
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW
