We’ve all had days like it before – when everything possible goes wrong. I had one such day just a couple of weeks ago. My husband and I were in between homes, so we were staying in a hotel for the weekend. After moving way too much stuff into our little room on that sweltering July day, this five month preggo discovered the air in our room didn’t work well. Just a few hours later, I set off to take care of some errands only to back straight into another car. After dealing with that foolish oversight, I discovered the engine light in the car was on (I should add that the accident in the parking lot caused no damage to the car, so this was totally unrelated.) At that point, my attitude went south and Bitter Betty took over my body. Why did we even have to live in hotel in the first place? Someone (namely my husband) should have planned better so this didn’t happen. Why was I so distracted that I didn’t see the car behind me? Why was the car messing up right now when there were a million other things to deal with?

While I realize my plight could have been much worse, at the time it seemed rough. Why? Because my focus was on the girl in the mirror. It wasn’t on the Lord who had provided a place to live during transition and given us the means to even have a car to drive. It wasn’t on loving and serving my husband who works hard to provide for our needs. And it wasn’t on reaching out to others.

Naomi had a similar problem. Her circumstances were far more dismal, but her focus was the same. She’d lost her husband and two sons and was stuck with two daughter-in-laws she couldn’t provide for. But rather than looking to God for help and strength, she blamed Him and choose to be bitter. “…No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” (Ruth 1:13b ESV)

Such an attitude hinders others from growth and truth. It has an affect on anyone around. When working with girls, we must be aware that bitterness or any other negative attitude of the heart will adversely affect them. Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34b ESV) The attitudes of our heart shine through in our words, just as Naomi’s did in the book of Ruth and just as mine did a few weeks ago.

Have your words today revealed your heart needs an attitude check? Is your bad attitude rubbing off on the girls you influence? Where is your focus? What needs to change?