The Influence of a Positive Attitude
Even though you are probably familiar with the story of David and Goliath, I challenge you to read the passage again. In 1 Samuel 17, David's father sent him to the battle camp to deliver supplies and secure information about his brothers. While he was in the camp, he saw Goliath and heard his challenge and began to question the soldiers. David's oldest brother became angry and ridiculed him. But David continued to seek information.
Because of his persistent questions, he was sent to King Saul. King Saul listened to David's proposal. He also ridiculed him, but David did not give up. King Saul finally consented to allow David to meet the giant's challenge. He killed Goliath, and David began a difficult but glorious journey as King of Israel.
How different this story might have been had David allowed the words of his brother and King Saul to defeat him! Fortunately, David listened to God and had faith in Him and himself.
David could easily have said to himself that this was not his fight. He had others confirm this, but he did not run away. He went into battle with a positive attitude. David was confident that God would go into battle with him, he had experience in fighting because of his role as protector of his sheep, and he was armed and knew his weapon. We need to approach our work and home life as a David. We need to be confident that God will be with us, to rely on our experiences and to be armed with love and a positive attitude.
A positive attitude can only improve our rate of success. If we approach anything in life with an "I can't" wait or "I won't" attitude, we will never succeed. We also may lead coworkers and family members to fail. How tragic it would be to know that we might be responsible for defeating one of God's chosen warriors with a negative attitude.
" Growing experiences" is a phrase some of my coworkers and I use in a humorous way to describe working opportunities we would rather not experience but are inevitable. Fortunately, these do become growing experiences, because we are stretched to learn and achieve more than we may think we are capable of doing.
Some years ago an opportunity was opened to me when I was asked to lead a seminar on telephone skills. I was confident of my own telephone skills, but I doubted that I could teach others such skills. As usual, my mouth said yes while my head said no. The mouth was committed before the head could take control.
In looking back, I am grateful that someone saw potential in me and took a risk by inviting me to lead the seminar. It was a positive experience that I would have missed had I allowed myself to say no. From that experience, I have learned to say "yes" when I may want to say "no." A project may be difficult and require extended work hours and research, but in the long run, we can benefit from the extra efforts we put into a project.
It is good for others to see potential in us and encourage us to grow, but we also should find opportunities to do the same for others. Find ways to help your coworkers and family members grow. Be a leader who encourages and helps those around you find their role as one of God's chosen warriors with prayer, support and recognition.
The best way to positively influence others is to show that you believe in them. Coworkers and family members need to be told they have worth and potential. Just as a smile will be returned when you give it away, your positive influence will be returned. What a wonderful reward you receive for the gift you give!
We all have the opportunity and responsibility to have a positive influence on our coworkers and family members. All through the New Testament we read how Jesus positively influenced others through forgiveness, healing and encouragement.
Would He ask any less of us? We can forgive mistakes, understand hurts and offer our sympathy and love; and we can see the positive results of Christ's love working through us, and they too can share that gift with others. It then becomes a gift received full circle.
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