November 28, 2025 Devo

One of the most powerful life lessons I ever learned was at a John Maxwell conference almost 40 years ago. That was the first time I ever heard the phrase, “Your attitude is your choice.” That understanding was life-altering for me. I used to blame my attitude on everything around me. I blamed my wife. I blamed my kids. I blamed my church people. I blamed my lack of sleep, my lack of coffee, and my lack of getting my workout in. But when Maxwell made that statement, it was like the scales fell from my eyes, and a dagger stabbed me in the heart at the same time. There was only one person to blame for my bad attitude. And that was ME.
You see, I get to choose whether I smile or frown. I get to choose whether I’m cheerful or a grump. I get to choose whether I want to respond to people in pleasant ways or be sharp, sarcastic, and mean. Nobody MAKES me do any of those things. I choose them. I don’t get to choose all the things that happen to me every day, but I DO get to choose how I respond to all of them. Do you know what that does? That gives me POWER over my life. POWER over the things people say or do. POWER over my circumstances, situations, and confrontations. No matter what happens TO me, I get to choose what goes on WITHIN me! That is honest-to-goodness POWER.
So, let’s read our verse for today aloud, and put in “I” instead of “we”: “This is the day the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Will you? You can. It’s your choice. You can choose to believe God really did make this day. You can choose to believe that He is still on His Throne and that He is Lord. You can choose to focus on the One who lives in your heart, rather than all those other people around you. You can choose to believe life is a gift and way too short to spend one single moment upset, licking your wounds, and thinking negative thoughts about negative people. Which, by the way, only ends up making YOU one of those negative people! You are LOVED. You are CHOSEN. You are an incredible, wonderful, amazing child of God living a BLESSED life and heading toward an ETERNAL destiny. You have MUCH to rejoice in! You have MUCH to be glad for! And NO ONE can stop you from being happy! No one, except YOU. Take back your life today. Take back your right to choose to be grateful, glad, and cheerful. Before you walk out that door today, remind yourself of that powerful truth. “Your attitude is your choice.” And choose a GOOD one! That’s God’s Word for you today.