Have you even been in the situation in which you discovered you just might need an attitude adjustment… but in an area that you felt you had already reach an understanding about who you were and how you should act in (fill in the blank) situations? How did this make you feel? Slightly embarrassed? Irritated? Surprised? Actually, if you are the ‘nothing is in cement’ type, surprise should never be the reaction/response since change is not just a way of life… it is what identifies life. And from that basis, adjustment is a way of life.
Adjustments aren’t always or necessarily negatives because we don’t know what the results of the new impacts will be. It really is alright. However, we do have a standard and probably a method to handle any ‘new’ that enters our non-cement, yet understood foundation pillars. So why get rattled when this happens? Can’t speak for you, but it does happen for me. Sometimes it’s a head slap kind of realization. Other times it comes as a quiet question that leads to a different thinking, mode of responding. Rarely, though occasionally, it is a back against the wall situation. Regardless… adjustment is the order of the day.
While it may be tempting to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater’, don’t. And you don’t have to recreate the wheel either. Adjustments aren’t major changes, they are tweaks. Except for your foundation, we find ourselves tweaking many areas that we thought we had the answer. And… you probably did for that moment. Things change and adapting or adopting will always be part of growth. Adjustments are our way of understanding the new that is always entering our lives. If the new doesn’t require an adjustment, then it may turn into a confirmation related to (fill in the blank).
I realize that adjustment is typically preceded by the word, ‘attitude’. And is typically a warning or command from someone else. Adjustments, like most of the major building blocks of our lives, are ours to determine the response. You always have the choice, decision. I quote Romans 12:2, AMP often… but it does speak to the issue:
“And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].”
If you take nothing else away from this discussion, focus on: “…be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind…” Renewing one’s mind is a process, a never ending process – it’s not one and done. And it is critical to who we are and who we become. Without renewal we live in yesteryear. ‘Adjustment’ is part of the renewal process. Adjustments are refinements. And, as you can see… it is we who do the doing.
