For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Rom. 8:6
When we use the word attitude, it often and rightly is used to describe someone negatively. For example a modern expression is to say about a surly, arrogant person – “they have got real attitude.” That is to say, they respond to life and its circumstances in an obnoxious manner and don’t seem to care who they hurt or offend in their responses to others.
For the Christian this should not be so. We should be known for our positive Christ - like attitude that others love to see and experience when in their company. Why is this? The reason is - we have been transformed, that is, our minds have been renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit at our salvation. We now have new goals, new aspirations, new desires and a new hope in Christ. This means our whole outlook on life and everything that happens now passes through this divinely given grid to give us the wherewith all to respond with Christ-like attitudes to everything.
But there still is the need to cultivate this new mind in order to develop right attitudes. This is what Paul was on about when he said in Rom. 12:2, “don’t be conformed to this world (pressed into its mould) but be transformed by the renewing of you mind...) This means that the cultivating of Christ - like thinking must be an ongoing work in our lives in order to have right attitudes.
I love the emphasis Charles Swindoll put on this: Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. [Grace Quotes]