Opening Verse
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
1 Peter 2:9
A Reflection on Our Attitude
How much weight can a single sentence add to your grip?
British psychiatrist J.A. Hadfield decided to find out. He asked volunteers to grip a dynamometer, a simple device for measuring hand strength, under three different conditions. Gripping normally, they averaged 101 pounds. Then he hypnotized them and told them they were weak; their average grip collapsed to 29 pounds, less than a third of what they had just proven they could do. Then he hypnotized them a third time and told them they were strong. The average jumped to 142 pounds (Bits & Pieces, May 1991, p. 15).
Nothing about their muscles had changed between tests. Only what they believed about themselves had.
That is not a party trick about hypnosis. It is a demonstration of something Scripture has been saying about attitude the whole time: you can only do what your mind will allow you to do, which means you will only ever be who your mind allows you to become. There is no secret hiding behind that equation. Make up your mind, and be who you desire.
The movie Facing the Giants puts the same truth on a football field. A player does not believe in what he is capable of, and his coach, needing him to see it for himself, blindfolds him and has him bear-crawl the length of the field with another player riding on his back. “I want your very best,” the coach tells him. “Can you give that to me?” “Yes, I will,” the player answers.
In that drill, players normally never go more than fifteen or twenty yards, and it is never attempted blindfolded, but the coach does not want him to see how far he has gone, only to feel how much strength he still has left to give. “Just a little bit more,” the coach keeps saying, “don’t quit, don’t quit.” The player finally goes down, convinced he has nothing left. “Coach, I can’t do it, I can’t go any farther.” “Son,” the coach says, “you don’t have to. Look up. You’re in the end zone.”
The attitude and mindset of a person matter. A weak one will not make it, or will not go very far. A strong one can carry a person farther than they can imagine, whether that is a hundred pounds on a dynamometer or a hundred yards on a football field.
So what happens when that same attitude gets built, not on hypnotic suggestion or a coach’s encouragement, but on the actual truth of who you are in Christ? Paul prayed exactly that kind of attitude into being for the church at Ephesus:
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen”…Ephesians 3:14-21
Notice what Paul is praying you would know: “the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,” filled up “to all the fullness of God,” by the One “who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” Friends, that is not abstract theology. That is an invitation to know the power and love of Christ, and to be connected to it through fellowship with the Father, who can do far beyond what you understand. In the end, we win, and your attitude ought to reflect that knowledge, that you have a relationship with the most powerful being there is, and He is on your side. That should have a powerful effect on your attitude.
So what attitude, specifically, is a Christian trying to live distinctively supposed to possess? Paul answers that question too, writing to the church at Philippi:
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”…Philippians 2:5-8
Three words describe that attitude, and Jesus modeled every one of them.
- SELFLESS: He “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped” (Philippians 2:6), and that selflessness showed up in His self-denial under temptation (Matthew 4:1-11; Hebrews 2:14-18; 4:14-16), His continual ministering to others rather than being ministered to (Matthew 20:28; Acts 10:38), the singular purpose that defined His life (John 6:38; Luke 19:10), and His willingness to sacrifice Himself for the benefit of others (John 15:13-14; Isaiah 53:4-6; Luke 10:25-37).
- SACRIFICIAL: He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant” (Philippians 2:7), evidenced by His willingness to forfeit His equality with God (John 1:1-3, 14; Galatians 2:20), give up the treasures of heaven (2 Corinthians 8:9; Romans 8:16-17), and give up His very life (John 10:17-18; 1 John 3:16).
- SUBMISSIVE: Because of that, “God highly exalted Him” (Philippians 2:9), a submission exhibited in His yielding to God’s plan to save mankind (John 3:16; Galatians 4:4-9), His willingness to do the words of God (John 5:36; 6:38; 9:4; 17:4), and His diligence in teaching the message God gave Him (John 7:16; 12:48-50; 14:24).
Selfless. Sacrificial. Submissive. That is the mind Christ had, and it is the mind He is asking you to have (Philippians 2:5). Not a borrowed confidence from a hypnotist’s suggestion or a coach’s shouted encouragement, but a settled attitude built on who you actually are in Him.
This truth isn’t just ancient doctrine. It speaks directly to us:
- Attitude isn’t decoration on top of faith. It changes what a person is actually capable of, whether that’s measured in pounds on a dynamometer or yards on a football field.
- A weak mindset won’t carry you far; a strong one, rightly placed, can carry you farther than you can imagine.
- Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 asks God to root you in a love that surpasses knowledge and a power that exceeds anything you could ask or think.
- Living distinctively starts with possessing the same mind Christ had: selfless, sacrificial, and submissive (Philippians 2:5-9).
- Selflessness shows up in self-denial and service to others; sacrifice shows up in what you’re willing to give up; submission shows up in doing and teaching what God said.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9), and that identity was never meant to leave your attitude untouched. Hadfield’s volunteers proved that what a person believes about themselves changes what they can do. Christ proved something far greater: what you believe about Him changes who you become. The only real question this reflection leaves us with is the one that coach asked on that football field, just aimed now at your own soul: are you willing to give Him your very best, even blindfolded, trusting that He already knows how far you can go?
