I have written in the past about the traits of a good leader. Some of these traits are humility, patience, generosity, servanthood, and compassion. We have learned all of these from Jesus. But, where do you go from here in applying some of these ideas? Maybe you have been faithful, but God has played a background role in your life. You have tried to live a Christian life, but do not give it much thought throughout the day. Maybe what you need is a new attitude. You need to refocus on the important things in life. Putting God in the center of your life will do this. He will direct you down the right path in your relationships, work ethics and how you lead people. Having a “new attitude” is not a new concept. We do it every year on New Year’s Day. Are you still pursuing your New Year’s resolutions? One of these years, I will see mine through to the end. Think of the feeling that you get with the new set of goals. Think of how focused you are during this time. That is how you need to approach having God centered in your life. It needs constant awareness to keep the focus and not let it die off like your resolutions do.
I remember the first round of golf for the season several years back. For the past few years before that, I had been too busy to golf and to be quite honest, I was not that good of a golfer. I am average at best but love to play in “scramble” format tournaments. They are the ones where you play the best ball out of the four that your team hits for each shot. That way I do not have to play all my shots. I started out this day scared that I was going to look like a fool. I was playing a regular game where I was forced to play my ball, good or bad. I had to count all my shots, including penalty strokes. After six holes, I had already lost three balls and was 15 shots over par. I was frustrated, and my attitude was going downhill with every shot. I wondered to myself if I should have even wasted the money on this round of golf. Golf is supposed to be relaxing. This was supposed to be a stress-free day.
I decided that it was time for a “new attitude”. I had been using one type of ball so far and so I figured that “it must be the ball.” I would not want to personally take any of the blame for hitting a poor shot, one after another. I approached the next hole with my “new attitude” and my new brand of golf ball. I was confident (sort of) that things were going to change. A straight drive down the fairway followed. I was close to the 150-yard marker. I stepped up to the ball and confidently hit it onto the green. Wow, I thought. This ball really works. The fact that I held my head down through the whole shot probably paid a bigger part than the ball. I walked up to the green and hit my first putt to within a foot of the hole. I tapped in for par. Now I really had some confidence in this new ball. The next hole was a short par five that I birdied. That is a rarity in my game. I managed to salvage a score of 51 on the front nine. More importantly, I was still using the same ball. I grabbed a burger and a bottle of water and took off for hole #10. I played the back nine holes with confidence. I hit the green on a par three over a pond. That never happens. I was seven feet from the hole and made my putt for a birdie. This is getting exciting now. I finished the second half of the round with a score of 42. This was the best nine holes of my life. Plus, most importantly, I never lost that ball. I know that it was not the brand of golf ball that changed my game around. It was my attitude. The ball was just the new focus. I was concentrating on the new ball so much that I kept my head down when swinging. I concentrated on my motions more in every shot. I did not take careless risks.
Putting God in the center of your life will change your focus. He will keep you down the fairway and out of trouble. You must make a conscious effort though. It does not come easy at the start. There are too many distractions in life. Too many sand traps and out of bounds areas that we must look out for. Put Him in the center of your life, and you will be truly blessed. What He does for you will show through in what you do for others. Go and try out your “new attitude.”
