Romans 12:14-21. The ones who are truly great in the eyes of God are those with a servant's heart. (Mark 10:43). God doesn't ask hard things of us - He asks the impossible. Why would He do such a thing? He does it so that success does not depend on human ability - but on the power of God. Rom. 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. As we yield to Him, He will renew our minds. He doesn't just make us love everyone, but He gives us a whole different way of thinking about things and people. He asks some rather radical attitude changes regarding our enemies. He tells us, don't curse but bless the ones who persecute us. Our natural response is to find a way to get even - "we'll surely show them a thing or two." The Bible tells us, that is not an option. Romans 12:19 tells us, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." All this really becomes possible as we feel good about ourselves in our relationship with Jesus Christ. We learn that God loves us unconditionally by hearing the Word of God, by receiving it by faith and then knowing it by experience. We learn that we are important to Him and that He takes us seriously. We learn to love what He loves, and risk being hurt in the world because we know that nothing can happen that will change His mind about us. We learn to love unlovable people because of what we know they can be in Christ. There is no room for pride or conceit because our efforts haven't made the changes. We can only stand in awe as we see miracle after miracle of changed lives and situations.

Godly Attitudes - A Time to Grow-up