Jesus Christ is my God!
Issued 20.08.2001
Upbringing to right attitudes
Training of attitudes is more important than training of manners. Behaviour that is not based on attitudes is pretence. Parents who teach their children to learn only manners but not right attitudes are training pretenders. Schools, which only give knowledge without training of attitudes, educate only formally qualified people. Congregations which teach only knowledge of the Bible but not the attitudes of Jesus are training their members to be pretenders. Hypocrisy is an essential feature all through societies.
Attitudes
Change of attitude springs up in the mind of man. A new attitude cannot be adopted in the same way as knowledge. Attitudes are like basic thoughts, which affect in the content of other thoughts. They are usually unconscious thoughts which only occasionally spring up from the depth of the heart.
By observing our spontaneous thoughts we can recognise our attitudes. "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." Prov.20:5
Change of attitude springs up in the mind of man. A new attitude cannot be adopted in the same way as knowledge. Attitudes are like basic thoughts, which affect in the content of other thoughts. They are usually unconscious thoughts which only occasionally spring up from the depth of the heart.
By observing our spontaneous thoughts we can recognise our attitudes. "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out." Prov.20:5
Manners and attitudes
Children are trained to follow good manners. When one gets something, one is told to say: "Thanks". When one wrongs, one is told to say: "Forgive me." If one forgot to thank or apologise the parents ask the child: "How must you say now?" Instead of this kind of training of manners there should be training of attitudes, not guiding behaviour but attitudes. Woe, how often parents are training their children to be pretenders!
If our mind is egocentric we cannot think gratefully. If our mind is proud, we cannot judge our own faults.
Gratitude can be tried to awaken in an ungrateful receiver by asking: "Did you get a good present? He took trouble with your gift. Wasn't he good when giving you the present?" When a recipient takes in his thoughts the position of the giver he can get a grateful mind. Who preaches the right attitude to oneself will get a change of mind and is able say with all one's heart to the donator: "Thank you very much of your present." The word "thanks" fits only in the mouth of a grateful one.
If a receiver doesn't say thanks, it is a message to the donator that his present was not welcome. Why should this message be perverted with pretending? An ungrateful one can be urged to examine one's attitudes and ask oneself why he is not grateful.
If someone has been violent, we can try to make him repent by asking: "Think about how much your victim suffered, when you hit him. Think it over, if someone would have handled you in the same way as you did." By taking the position of his victim in his thoughts a violent one can get regretful mind.. If his mind is opened to see how wrong he has done, he is able to confess regretting: "What I did was wrong!." The words "Forgive me" fit only in the mouth of a regretful one.
If all attempts to awake repentance failed, then the violent one can be punished in the way that forces him to think about the results of his deed from the view point of his victim.. So it would be better to give a corporal punishment to a violent one than put him to a jail. If he learnt already in his childhood that he got away with his wrongdoings only by saying "forgive me" though he didn't regret, he was guided to a dangerous way. Because of this attitude he can suppose that he gets away with his sins before God by approaching Him only with utterances of his mouth and not with his heart.
Right behaviour without right attitude is lying. Thanking without gratitude and apologies without repentance are pretending. If somebody doesn't feel gratitude or repentance, he must not be forced to behave in the right way! It is important to make known what is the right behaviour pattern, but forcing to the right behaving brings up people who are trained liars.
Children are trained to follow good manners. When one gets something, one is told to say: "Thanks". When one wrongs, one is told to say: "Forgive me." If one forgot to thank or apologise the parents ask the child: "How must you say now?" Instead of this kind of training of manners there should be training of attitudes, not guiding behaviour but attitudes. Woe, how often parents are training their children to be pretenders!
If our mind is egocentric we cannot think gratefully. If our mind is proud, we cannot judge our own faults.
Gratitude can be tried to awaken in an ungrateful receiver by asking: "Did you get a good present? He took trouble with your gift. Wasn't he good when giving you the present?" When a recipient takes in his thoughts the position of the giver he can get a grateful mind. Who preaches the right attitude to oneself will get a change of mind and is able say with all one's heart to the donator: "Thank you very much of your present." The word "thanks" fits only in the mouth of a grateful one.
If a receiver doesn't say thanks, it is a message to the donator that his present was not welcome. Why should this message be perverted with pretending? An ungrateful one can be urged to examine one's attitudes and ask oneself why he is not grateful.
If someone has been violent, we can try to make him repent by asking: "Think about how much your victim suffered, when you hit him. Think it over, if someone would have handled you in the same way as you did." By taking the position of his victim in his thoughts a violent one can get regretful mind.. If his mind is opened to see how wrong he has done, he is able to confess regretting: "What I did was wrong!." The words "Forgive me" fit only in the mouth of a regretful one.
If all attempts to awake repentance failed, then the violent one can be punished in the way that forces him to think about the results of his deed from the view point of his victim.. So it would be better to give a corporal punishment to a violent one than put him to a jail. If he learnt already in his childhood that he got away with his wrongdoings only by saying "forgive me" though he didn't regret, he was guided to a dangerous way. Because of this attitude he can suppose that he gets away with his sins before God by approaching Him only with utterances of his mouth and not with his heart.
Right behaviour without right attitude is lying. Thanking without gratitude and apologies without repentance are pretending. If somebody doesn't feel gratitude or repentance, he must not be forced to behave in the right way! It is important to make known what is the right behaviour pattern, but forcing to the right behaving brings up people who are trained liars.
Pretending is the prevailing way of life
Someone is wondering that is it really wrong to bring up a child to follow good manners. Wouldn't life be terrible without beautiful manners? It is reality that people are bad and good manners don't help much its consequences. By hiding evil with pretending doesn't remove bad consequences, but only makes it more difficult to remove evil.
Everybody must know when it is good to give thanks and when it is suitable to ask for forgiveness, but they must not be demanded only as a custom. We should endure the fact that someone is not grateful though he got a good present. Some have even learnt, not only to say "thanks", but to be able to play a part of a grateful man, though they think otherwise in their heart.
In God's sight your pretending is more detestable than your ingratitude. Be careful that you don't fall in love with pretence! "With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse." Ps.62.4 Getting practice in pretence creates deceitful people. Therefore escape pretence with all your power. "Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." Prov.27:5-6
There are no excuses for pretence, no matter where it appears. Jesus gives one common name for those who will be judged to hell, when He says: "... and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matth.24:51
Someone is wondering that is it really wrong to bring up a child to follow good manners. Wouldn't life be terrible without beautiful manners? It is reality that people are bad and good manners don't help much its consequences. By hiding evil with pretending doesn't remove bad consequences, but only makes it more difficult to remove evil.
Everybody must know when it is good to give thanks and when it is suitable to ask for forgiveness, but they must not be demanded only as a custom. We should endure the fact that someone is not grateful though he got a good present. Some have even learnt, not only to say "thanks", but to be able to play a part of a grateful man, though they think otherwise in their heart.
In God's sight your pretending is more detestable than your ingratitude. Be careful that you don't fall in love with pretence! "With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse." Ps.62.4 Getting practice in pretence creates deceitful people. Therefore escape pretence with all your power. "Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." Prov.27:5-6
There are no excuses for pretence, no matter where it appears. Jesus gives one common name for those who will be judged to hell, when He says: "... and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matth.24:51
Knowledge and attitudes
Schools distribute knowledge and force to memorise right answers, but usually they don't teach right attitudes. However the attitudes of one's branch of activity are needed to adopt the knowledge and especially to apply it to practical life. In this way also schools are bringing up pretenders.
For example logicalness and carefulness are attitudes of mathematical thinking. What does a teacher of mathematics do that he would strengthen these attitudes in his pupils? If he only teaches to memorise formulas and to do exercises, he teaches to pretend being a mathematically thinking person.
An interest itself is already an attitude. Effective learning requires that one is interested in the subject. Who is interested in his subject learns things by oneself, the others only copy what others have learnt. Therefore the first task of a teacher is to awake their interest in the subject. If the interest springs up then it can be used to adopt other attitudes related to the subject. Knowledge is much easier to memorise, if one has internalised the attitudes of the subject. Everyone has noticed how easy it is to remember the things learnt by oneself. Instead the facts that are memorised for an exam are forgotten already on the next day after the exam.
What if the right attitudes are not formed though one has tried to adopt them? Must pupils to be forced to copy the knowledge which they are not able to apply in practice? My opinion is that it would be better to change the subject to another than to try to pretend to be the expert of the subject. If you are served by a person who has got the suitable attitudes of his profession, you surely notice the difference between him and a person who pretends to be the professional of the branch.
Ability to adopt new attitudes depends on the attitudes that have been already adopted in the same way as ability to receive new knowledge depends on the knowledge that has been already adopted. After one has adopted a basic attitude one is able to adopt other related attitudes. The alphabet of good attitudes can be learnt only from God. Many are satisfied to be pretenders. Some even love their double life. Because many have lost their hope to get good attitudes they stress their good manners or their good education. They try to hide themselves behind their academic degree so that nobody would notice that they have not the right attitudes required in their profession.
Schools distribute knowledge and force to memorise right answers, but usually they don't teach right attitudes. However the attitudes of one's branch of activity are needed to adopt the knowledge and especially to apply it to practical life. In this way also schools are bringing up pretenders.
For example logicalness and carefulness are attitudes of mathematical thinking. What does a teacher of mathematics do that he would strengthen these attitudes in his pupils? If he only teaches to memorise formulas and to do exercises, he teaches to pretend being a mathematically thinking person.
An interest itself is already an attitude. Effective learning requires that one is interested in the subject. Who is interested in his subject learns things by oneself, the others only copy what others have learnt. Therefore the first task of a teacher is to awake their interest in the subject. If the interest springs up then it can be used to adopt other attitudes related to the subject. Knowledge is much easier to memorise, if one has internalised the attitudes of the subject. Everyone has noticed how easy it is to remember the things learnt by oneself. Instead the facts that are memorised for an exam are forgotten already on the next day after the exam.
What if the right attitudes are not formed though one has tried to adopt them? Must pupils to be forced to copy the knowledge which they are not able to apply in practice? My opinion is that it would be better to change the subject to another than to try to pretend to be the expert of the subject. If you are served by a person who has got the suitable attitudes of his profession, you surely notice the difference between him and a person who pretends to be the professional of the branch.
Ability to adopt new attitudes depends on the attitudes that have been already adopted in the same way as ability to receive new knowledge depends on the knowledge that has been already adopted. After one has adopted a basic attitude one is able to adopt other related attitudes. The alphabet of good attitudes can be learnt only from God. Many are satisfied to be pretenders. Some even love their double life. Because many have lost their hope to get good attitudes they stress their good manners or their good education. They try to hide themselves behind their academic degree so that nobody would notice that they have not the right attitudes required in their profession.
Faith and attitudes
Also many congregations teach their members to adopt the right doctrine but they don't care about right attitudes. In this way they bring up their members to be pretenders. Memorised Bible passages and dogmas make it possible to pretend to be a person who thinks like a real believer. A person who has adopted the mind of Jesus is able to say all essential truths of the Bible with his own words.
It is important to make known the commandments of God to everyone, so that everyone would know how one would live, if one would be upright. However it is not good to force anyone to follow them, so that one would not believe it possible to obey the commandments without the change of mind.
A religious person tries to follow God's commandments, though he has a sinful mind. Although he tries to stress how he has the right doctrine, he is not able to hide his unjust mind. The true believer has experienced the repentance. He does right because he is upright.
Repentance means that we change our attitudes. It is the most essential thing God expects from us. He doesn't change our attitudes by force, but we must grant repentance voluntarily. He has given us the example of the perfectly upright man in Jesus. Therefore it is written: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Phil.2:5
The gospel about the crucified and the up risen Son of God offers you the power to experience the change of your attitudes. The Spirit of God is able to renew the spirit of your mind. The Good Spirit creates the good attitudes. "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1Pet.2:1-3
Jesus is the only unbeatable hero in the struggle against hypocrisy. Only He has succeeded completely also in this matter. He never pretended, though the environment tempted Him in the same way as us. So take seriously His warning: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luuk.12:1 He will set you free from pretence!
Also many congregations teach their members to adopt the right doctrine but they don't care about right attitudes. In this way they bring up their members to be pretenders. Memorised Bible passages and dogmas make it possible to pretend to be a person who thinks like a real believer. A person who has adopted the mind of Jesus is able to say all essential truths of the Bible with his own words.
It is important to make known the commandments of God to everyone, so that everyone would know how one would live, if one would be upright. However it is not good to force anyone to follow them, so that one would not believe it possible to obey the commandments without the change of mind.
A religious person tries to follow God's commandments, though he has a sinful mind. Although he tries to stress how he has the right doctrine, he is not able to hide his unjust mind. The true believer has experienced the repentance. He does right because he is upright.
Repentance means that we change our attitudes. It is the most essential thing God expects from us. He doesn't change our attitudes by force, but we must grant repentance voluntarily. He has given us the example of the perfectly upright man in Jesus. Therefore it is written: "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Phil.2:5
The gospel about the crucified and the up risen Son of God offers you the power to experience the change of your attitudes. The Spirit of God is able to renew the spirit of your mind. The Good Spirit creates the good attitudes. "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." 1Pet.2:1-3
Jesus is the only unbeatable hero in the struggle against hypocrisy. Only He has succeeded completely also in this matter. He never pretended, though the environment tempted Him in the same way as us. So take seriously His warning: "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Luuk.12:1 He will set you free from pretence!
The Bible version used in references is NIV