For Reading and Meditation:
2 Corinthians 13:1-14
As we conclude our study of the Beatitudes it is time for us to take a simple test. Ask yourself the following questions and see how many of Christ's "beautiful attitudes" have been assimilated into your life: 1. Am I trying to grasp things from God's hands or are my hands relaxed and empty so that I might receive? 2. Do I shrink from painful experiences or do I welcome them in the knowledge that they will make me a more sensitive person? 3. Am I so sure of God and His resources that I am free from a spirit of demandingness and over-concern? 4. Is my goal to be happy, or is it to be holy? Am I more taken up with getting pleasure out of God than I am with giving pleasure to God? 5. Do I have a deep compassion and concern for the plight of others? 6. Is my heart clean and pure? Have I experienced an inner cleansing that has reached to the deepest depths? 7. Am I a reconciler - one who seeks to reconcile others to God and, where necessary, to each other? 8. Am I so identified with Christ that I experience the hatred which the world gives to those who remind them of Him? Don't be discouraged if you can't see all of these "beautiful attitudes" at work in your life. Remember, we grow in grace. Ask God, however, to help you absorb more and more of His "beautiful attitudes" day by day. The more you have, the more you are to be envied. Possess them all - and you are truly blessed.
Lord Jesus, I have listened to Your words and I realise now the Word must become flesh - in me. I want the balance of my days here on earth to reflect, not my attitudes, but Yours. Help me, for Your own Name's sake. Amen.