An Excellent Attitude
I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.
(1 Chronicles 29:17)
Daniel 6:1–3 (NASB) says: “It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps over the kingdom, to be in charge of the whole kingdom, and over them, three commissioners (of whom Daniel was one), so that these satraps would be accountable to them, and that the king would not suffer loss. Then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and satraps because he possessed an extraordinary spirit, and the king intended to appoint him over the entire kingdom.”
The first sign of integrity in the life of Daniel was his excellent attitude. Now, if we want to be a person of integrity, we must begin deep within. We must begin with our attitude. It’s so easy to make our lives look as though our attitude is good when in reality it isn’t. One of the first places it shows up is in the realm of our employment.
It’s significant that there was no jealousy in Daniel’s heart against those other two men who were appointed as commissioners. He could have been threatened, he could have been competitive, he could have been rather nasty and ugly in his responsibilities, because he had the longest time in the kingdom. Long before those men had even come upon the scene, he had been in authority under previous monarchs. But because he possessed that “extraordinary spirit,” the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.
Let me pause right here and ask you about your attitude. How is it? Perhaps it’s good right now, but what about tomorrow morning when you punch in on the time clock? Or what about by the end of the day tomorrow evening? How will your eight to ten hours have been? As you work shoulder to shoulder with people in your shop, in your office, or among the sales force where you’re employed, or in the secretarial pool, what kind of attitude will you have? An excellent attitude means much!
You might wonder, “Will my boss notice if I have a good attitude?” Don’t worry about that. He’ll stumble all over it! He’ll be amazed by it. In fact, he’ll be terribly impressed. Maybe I should warn you ahead of time—your problem won’t be with your employer. Your main troubles will come from your fellow workers, who are often lazy and dishonest and bothered that you’re not like them. And because you won’t be like they are, you will discover they will become envious and jealous and so petty that you might even begin to endure what Daniel experienced.
