The more I think about being a healthy, thriving church community, the more I realize that it can’t happen until people begin to live out some heart attitudes with each other. Conflict is all part of being in relationship with each other. Unfortunately, we sometimes either run from it or face it in a way that’s unhealthy.

As a church, we encourage everyone to live out the following Heart Attitudes with each other:

HEART ATTITUDES

No one can follow Christ’s example perfectly, but a follower of Christ seeks to live out the following Heart Attitudes to foster healthy relationships.

1. Pursue a growing spiritual relationship with God above all else
(Luke 10:27).

2. Live a godly and honest life before others (Eph 4:25).

3. Clear up relationships with others (Matt 5:23-24).

4. Assume the best of others until proven otherwise (Phil 4:8; I Cor 13:5-7).

5. Put the success of others above my own (Phil 2:2-3; John 15:12-13).

6. Receive and give biblical correction (Heb 3:13; Prov 10:17).

7. Follow spiritual leadership within biblical limits (Heb 13:17).

8. If you lead, seek to be a servant leader like Jesus (Mark 10:45).

Something that’s always puzzled me about life with Jesus is that real, genuine lasting change doesn’t happen for many followers of Christ. Why? The Bible is replete with the idea of spiritual change for the better. You might even say that becoming more like Jesus is the main focus of the New Testament. So, why do we experience so little change for the better?

In my readings in the Book of Hebrews, the writer lays out a slippery slope downward that keeps us from experiencing real, lasting change. It begins in Hebrews 2:1-4. In Hebrews 1, we’re introduced to the concept of the vastness and greatness of Jesus Christ. Then, in the beginning of chapter 2, the writer challenges us to not neglect this great salvation that we have in Christ. Neglect is the starting point of the downward spiritual slippery slope. To reverse neglect means that we need to spend time with God cultivating our spiritual life with Him through prayer, reflection on His Word, silence, solitude and other spiritual practices that keep God and life with Jesus in the forefront of our everyday lives.

As I read and reflect on the gospels, it’s amazing to see how Jesus surprised people with who God was. For instance, in Luke 15, the stories of the lost coin, the lost sheep and the lost son show us that this all -powerful, omnipotent God loves us beyond what we can think or imagine. The idea of “lost” that Jesus was trying to convey through these stories is that lost means that we are out of place until we enter into a relationship with God. Our original place of belonging was to be in relationship with God forever. When that was lost in Genesis 3, God has been trying to restore us to Himself. Today, that restoration with God happens when we invite Christ to be our Lord and Savior and choose to follow Him.

Desire is the God-given passion that compels me to make a difference. When it comes to desire or passion, there’s one key spiritual life principle that we have to get is we want to live life God’s way: God does not want you to be committed. He wants you to be surrendered.

Commitment is me and my power — I can do it!
Surrender calls us to yield our lives to God first.
Commitment is saying that I’ll do better.
Surrender is having the confidence that God will do His work through me as I live my
life.
Commitment is me and my best effort.
Surrender is me allowing God’s competency to work through me.

When we learn and live out this principle, we experience the rest and peace that we were meant to have. Then our passion and desire is not grounded in self-effort or self-determination which won’t last. It will be grounded in Christ in us (Galatians 2:19-21).