It's Contagious

I was at a wedding on Saturday night when an old friend came to tell me goodbye. "I think I may have the flu," he said, "I'm need to get to bed." Rather than embracing him, I stepped away. As glad as I was to see him, there was no way that I wanted what he had, and we all know how contagious the flu can be.

But, did you know that attitudes are contagious as well? Think about it, when you get around a group of people who are really excited about what God is doing in the church, it is easy to get swept away in the excitment. As a matter of fact, when I get around those people, I sometimes find that I need to tame my excitment before it gets out of control...I'll have us going to Timbuktu on a mission trip next month, for instance, if I'm not careful.

However, the wrong kind of attitude is contagious as well. The old saying goes, "one bad apple can spoil the whole barrel." Well, I don't know much about apples and barrels, but I am learning more and more about people every day, and one bad attitude can definitely spoil a whole group of people. You see, bad attitudes are probably more contagious than good ones, and if we aren't careful we find ourselves wallowing in the feeling of accomplishment we receive by spreading a bad attitude.

An old Aerosmith song said, "sometimes it kinda gets like feelin bad looks good." Well, if we aren't careful we will find that doing the bad thing in the church begins to feel really good. Gossiping, backbiting, and generally doing everything you can to spread a negative attitude causes division and hampers the growth of the church, not to mention it is not Godly.


The Bible tells us that the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of unity. Let us seek to be contagious Christians who spread positive attitudes faster than flu patients spread germs. Glorify God in your speech, and all of your conduct, it will be amazing how much you will be blessed.