How often do you celebrate events or achievements in your life? Is celebration something you only think about during holidays, birthdays, anniversaries or other significant times of life?
I don’t think we celebrate enough, but I’ve discovered how to live with an attitude of celebration.
Our attitude is our thought life turned inside out. It’s in us, but everybody sees it—in our body language, facial expressions and other ways we communicate. You don’t have to open your mouth for everybody to know when you’re impatient, frustrated or disgusted by something.
Attitude is the posture we take toward life. It’s all about the way we decide to look at our circumstances. The attitudes we choose affect how we feel, behave, and ultimately, the overall quality of our lives.
It’s easy to think, “I’m like this because I have all these problems!” But the truth is your attitude is yours, and nobody can make you have a bad one if you don’t want to. Giving in to a negative, critical, or angry mindset doesn’t solve your problems or make anything better. And no one enjoys being around a person with a bad attitude for very long.
Some people are blessed with a naturally positive view of life, but I had to work at it. I grew up in a very negative home, and my natural temperament leaned toward being critical, always seeing what was wrong with things. But I know from personal experience that anyone can learn how to have a good attitude if they are willing to let the Holy Spirit work in their heart.
Ephesians 4:23 (AMP) says, “Be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude].” Notice this says to be “continually renewed in the spirit of your mind.” It’s a daily decision we have to make.
I have found that a lot of life is all about making little adjustments on a frequent basis. For example, when my life gets out of balance because I’m working too much, I have to make an adjustment with my schedule so I have time to rest, spend time with family or friends or do something fun.
Sometimes people can get lazy and just need to get up and start moving. Or maybe they don’t feel good and need to start drinking more water to stay hydrated. These decisions are all about making little adjustments that make a big difference.
When it comes to living with an attitude of celebration, we have to decide to be mindful of the little things, as well as the big things, that we can be thankful for. I have many things I can celebrate at this point in my life:
- I’ve been married to the same man for more than 50 years, and I still love him!
- We have four grown children who are serving God.
- We have 11 grandchildren who love Jesus.
- I’ve been teaching God’s Word for more than 42 years.
- I’ve written 116 books, and I’m still writing.
- But most importantly, I’m celebrating how much God has changed me!
In the Old Testament, we find that God commanded the Israelites to have seven feasts every year to remember what He had done for them and celebrate His faithfulness and goodness to them. The Passover feast was an eight-day celebration when they remembered how God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt so they could inherit the Promised Land He had for them.
As believers in Christ, this represents what God has done for us spiritually. He’s forgiven us of sin, given us a new heart, and His Spirit lives in us. Because of what Christ has done, we have access to the presence of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to become everything we are created to be.
We also have the privilege of prayer, and the confidence that God listens, He cares and He will answer us. He is always with us and will never leave us alone. These are just a few amazing promises we find in His Word that should celebrate every day.
To celebrate means you mark an important event in your life. Celebrating can range from having a huge party to simply taking a few minutes to tell God how thankful you are for what He’s done for you. You could even do something for someone else. When we really appreciate what God has done in our lives, we want to help others who don’t have what we have. And the more you help people, the happier you will be.
I want to encourage you to make a conscious decision to spend time every day considering what God has done for you—spiritually, as well as in the circumstances of your life. The more you renew your mind to focus on Him and who He is to you, the more you’ll have to celebrate. And you’ll live with an attitude of celebration!
