Lord, Change My Attitude- Book Review

I just finished reading a great book during my daily devotional time. It's called Lord, Change My Attitude Before It's Too Late by author and pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel. MacDonald also hosts a radio program on Moody radio called Walk in the Word, and his church has started several other churches throughout the Midwest. He has a great ministry.

I heard about this book back in 2009 during our Seminary Wives Fellowship meetings. The professors' wives were all reading through this book together and then presented the chapters to the rest of us. During the time, I was having a really bad attitude about my life circumstances. I was living 900+ miles from home, was poorer than dirt because of seminary, had started my teaching career, and rarely saw my husband because of his seminary and work schedule. To top it off, I really didn't want to be at these SWF meetings because they were held in the same building that I taught in. The last thing I wanted to do was come back to the building where I had already spent 8+ hours earlier that day. Needless to say, my heart was ripe for the message of this book. I decided to put it on my Amazon wishlist, and my dad bought it for me for Christmas (we both have a slight obsession with purchasing books off of Amazon).

I started reading it shortly after that, then put it down for a few months, then picked it up again around the next Thanksgiving, then put it down for a few months, and I just finished it this morning as part of my devotions. I wish I would have had the time to finish it in a shorter time frame. Oh well.

The book is divided into 10 chapters with every odd numbered chapter describing a bad attitude and every even numbered chapter describing what to replace that bad attitude with. A lengthy epilogue wraps it all up nicely. The five bad attitudes covered are as follows: a complaining attitude, a covetous attitude, a critical attitude, a doubting attitude, and a rebellious attitude. Upon first reading the chapters, I caught myself thinking "Oh, this doesn't apply to me," and then ended the chapters thinking "Ouch, it actually does apply to me." I really do have an attitude problem.

I really appreciated how MacDonald explained how to fix these attitude problems. I'm all about application. I also liked how he applied the story of the Israelites and their wilderness wanderings to these bad attitudes. He contrasted how the Israelites chose a life of wilderness wandering because of their complaining attitudes. They could have had a life in the Promised Land if they would have trusted God's timing. He didn't just pull random verses out of context to prove his point. He systematically went through the story of the Israelites and applied it to his principles delineated in his book. He relied heavily on Scripture throughout the book. It's easy for Christian authors to fall into the trap of throwing Scripture into their books as an afterthought. MacDonald doesn't fall into this trap. He builds his book around Scripture.

I strongly recommend this book to individuals struggling with contentment in their lives. If you can't understand why you are so unhappy all of the time, pick up this book and apply the principles to your own life. But if you're not prepared to apply what you read to your own heart and life, you will never change. MacDonald says in his epilogue, "If you're not turning to Him (Jesus) and walking intimately and personally with Him, you will never escape the wilderness. Even if you are a Christian, but are trying to do it yourself, it won't work" (p. 262). What a great reminder for all of us!

Next on my list to read...Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.