“Getting Rid Of Conditional Praise”
By Zach Wood
Psalm 34:1-3 TLB
I will praise the Lord
no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace. I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let
all who are discouraged take heart. Let
us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.
Back in 2006, the movie “Facing The Giants” came out and was
a very inspirational football story. One
of the scenes shows the coach, Grant Taylor, talking to the team and explaining
that they will start praying and praising God at the end of each game, whether
they win or lose. This sets a great
attitude for the team as they focus on God being their source of strength no
matter the outcome of the game.
As I read this passage in the Living Bible translation, the
words “praise the Lord no matter what
happens” stood out to me and reminded me of the scene from the movie. I thought about how it is so easy to praise
God when things are going well and the outcomes of different situations of
every day life are good. However, when
things turn out bad or don’t go the way we had hoped, it’s often harder to
continue to lift up praise.
I admit that I am very bad about this conditional praise
many times in my life. It is so easy for
me to praise Him when life is going well.
However, when bad days come, I’m not praising Him so much. Rather, I’m complaining and grumbling. I’m trying to be better about this, but it’s
a weak area for me.
In order for me to be a better witness to my wife, kids and
others in my life, I need to improve the way I react to situations when bad
things happen. I need to have an
attitude of thanks when life is good and when life is not so good. I need to have constant praise in my life
each day, no matter what is going on.
How about you? Are you
praising the Lord no matter what happens in your life each day? Are you focused more on the aggravations of
what is not going well or are you finding ways to praise God no matter what is
happening? It is hard to do!!! Not an
easy task at all.
We need to have an attitude of praise always. Whether we feel we are winning in life or
losing, He is God and is always faithful.
His goodness does not change in our bad days. Does this mean we can’t be discouraged? No, we are human and we have bad days. We just need to work through that
discouragement and realize that things will pass and we need to keep our
attitude in check and continue to give God praise.
We should never be conditional with our praise. God deserves our praise, no matter what.
