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| Positive Attitude or Doom and Gloom? |
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So what does the Bible say? Should we walk around with our heads up high or down low?
As children of God we are blessed. Isn't that a good enough reason to be positive? I really enjoy being around positive people. They lift your spirits instead of bogging them down. I can only handle negative people a little at a time. I gotta say, they burn me out! How about you? You know the one, the "woe is me" person, who is always bummed about everything. I would much rather hang around someone who has a more positive outlook on life.
Even if you do have problems (and we all do), isn't being a child of the Most High God enough reason to rejoice? I don't know about you, but He has put a song in my heart. A reason to hold my head up high.
I know that some feel that positive thinking is wrong, but I would ask you to please show me in the Bible where God tells us it is good to be negative? I only see that we should rejoice in the Lord always and in everything give thanks.
4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: [and] again I say, Rejoice.
5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen is the best book I have read on this topic, outside of the Word of God. This book offers lots of insightful tips to help you have a positive attitude. One thing Joel says that really helped me, is to always find the good in things and proclaim them out loud. For example, you are riding down the road and you are suddenly thrust into a traffic jam. You could loose you salvation, and get all bent out of shape at every Joe, Dick and Harry on the road. (just kidding, you know I believe in eternal security :). Or you could say out loud, "Lord I am thankful for this job you have given me that put me in this traffic. And thank you for the car, that I can drive to get to where I am going (even if it is Bessie :). And thank you that you spared me from being in one of these accidents that are on the side of the road."
Get the point?
It's all in your attitude! People want to hang around positive people. When you are positive it will attract others. I am not saying to avoid negative people, we should seek to minister to them. But if you are negative, please know that this does take a toll on people. Ever go somewhere and you see that negative person and you dread having to talk to them, because you know they are going to do nothing but complain about their circumstances? Or are you the one who is wearing people out by being so negative?
Look Up! If God is for us, who can be against us? We have been saved by His precious blood. Eternity is ours; we are blessed! Even if nothing else ever goes our way! We have a message of hope and not despair. If we are always negative, nobody will want what we have. Let your light shine as a bright beam and not fading. Joel also said "If you are born again, notify your face!"
Do people see the love and joy of Christ in your life? Or are you sending a doom and gloom message and calling it "good news?" If we are going to represent God, we should do it with great joy!
If you are interesting in this book, why not support a fellow MyChurch member?
Purchase Your Best Life Now from Jacob's Well |
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| To add a comment to "Positive Attitude or Doom and Gloom?" |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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Can I borrow that book Sue?
Love you,
Mary Ann |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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| Your best blog ever, Sue! BTW, you know the image of the book contains a link to Amazon, so you could inadvertently be steering people away from Jacob's Well. ~mike |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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| I know we all get bummed once in a while, but the key is to shake it off and remember that we have so much to be thankful for. This is one of the many areas of my life that God and I are currently working on. Thanks Sue for the info and the encouraging reminder. |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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From the Bible verses and the examples, it sounds like a "negative" (as described in this blog) person is someone who is bitter and ungrateful, while a "positive" (as described in this blog) person is someone who rejoices in, is grateful for and is hopeful for God's goodness even when times are tough. In those senses of the words, I wholeheartedly agree that we should be "positive" rather than "negative." I think that there commonly are certain other connotations to the words "negative" and "positive," though, and with those connotations I think that being "negative" is better than being "positive." For example, we might associate mourning and sorrow with being "negative" and laughing with being "positive." But, we should mourn over our sins and mourn over the devastating effects of sin on people in this world. We should "weep with those who weep" as well as "rejoice with those who rejoice" (Romans 12:15). Jesus had the joy of the Kingdom set before Him (Hebrews 12:1-2), but He also was the "Man of Sorrows" and was rejected by others (Isaiah 53:3). On the other hand, there are men who smile and laugh and are optimistic and can draw a big crowd, and ultimately they bring themselves and their hearers to Hell (Luke 6:20-26). Sometimes people are "positive" in a way that keeps them afraid to minister to those who are "negative" (something Sue warned against in her first post). And, some "positive" people are like the one who "blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning" (Proverbs 27:14). I think that I uderstand what Sue is getting at when she says "People want to hang around positive people. When you are positive it will attract others." Being grateful and hopeful, encouraging in a godly way those who are discouraged, is attractive in a way that I believe God wants us to be. But, I've also found that certain people who call themselves "positive" or who are known for being "positive" really can turn me off. |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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Thank you so much for this blog. It needed to be said. And I could not have said it better myself. Unfortunately I must say... I WAS ONE OF THOSE NEGATIVE COMPLAINING PEOPLE. But noticed the word "WAS". Not so long ago I was having major problems in my life, work, marriage, etc... I was very bitter and felt like I had the worst luck in the world. I could not understand why. I used to call my cousin or my mom and dad but I never had anything positive to say. I felt like there really wasn't anything positive going on in my life to mention it. Well I really got tired people expecting me to have bad news every time they spoke to me. I even got tired of hearing myself!!! LOL Well, I figured, Obviously I am not really doing a great job at running my own life. So I started going back to church more often and just praying that God would open my heart and let me trust Him more. Just to learn how to give Him all my worries and frustrations. I was stressing myself out to the point that I was literally and physically making myself sick. I was depressed, sleeping all day, basically not functioning normally in everyday life. Once I started seeking God to help me and take over my life, I suddenly felt this heavy weight lifted off of me. I was happier and even my mom and cousin noticed the difference in my voice and attitiude right away when I would call them. Don't get me wrong, I still have a few issues that I am concerned about but I do not stress myself over things I can not change anymore. I worry but then I pray to God to help me get through it like He always has. I realized that things could be much, much , much worse than they are. I am just thankful for the small things like breathing, and seeing my beautiful babies grow up, and having my health and a roof over my head. This is one reason why I love that song from Carrie Underwood - Jesus Take The Wheel. I can relate to that song. Thank you for sharing this.
God Bless,
Diana |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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| Nice blog Sue! My father was a very negative person, and it was so hard to be around him. His negativity tended to rub off on me. That is never good, but when it is a parent and you show them respect, it is hard to avoid being around them. I tried to be cheerful, but let me tell you, he would test the strongest most positive person. He is gone now, and I can look back at some of the good memories, but I won't ever forget the negativity. |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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Hello Sue,
I agree that having a positive attitude will help me more than having a negative attitude. I think these discussions also have a different connotation: that a believer who isn't happy is somehow sinning. So, I'll type about that.
If 'Joy' is that God is bigger than my circumstances, I agree every believer is called to always be joyful. If 'Joy' is the idea that a Christian is always to be happy in the midst of all circumstances, I can't agree. Greek has two words that we translate into 'Joy': one word means the serene acceptance of God's providence; the other means jumping up and down for joy (happiness). The Joy mentioned, as a fruit of the Spirit is the first meaning, not the second. Believers are not called upon to be happy in every circumstance, but to live in the truth.
I believe living in the truth involves acknowledging my feelings, but not letting my feelings control me. I sometimes wonder if we believers live in a lie by ignoring negative feelings. Feelings are a thermometer for relationships: if I feel bad, someone has probably mistreated me, or I mistreated them. Either way, I need to respond: either I need to gently confront them, or I need to change my behavior. Christ said I should love others as I love myself. If I mistreat a friend, I would rather they confront me. I they mistreat me, I have to confront them, too. If I want them to change their behavior, I need to change my behavior, when appropriate, as well.
I think we allow Satan a big foothold by ignoring negative feelings. We can only ignore feelings for a little while before we start to resent the person who's mistreating us. Resentment is a sin by itself, since it’s a form of bitterness. I've noticed, as I deal with my feelings in a Godly manner, that He shows me deficiencies in my own character as well, so I'm able to live in the truth more.
King David was pretty good at acknowledging negative feelings, and dealing with them well. Psalm 13 shows him doing this, and it also shows him accepting God's providence.
Psalm 13
1 How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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| Deb my father is not only negative but grouchy. Everything bugs him from mom waking up until she goes to bed if you've read my blog Him I Know you know mom has alzhiemers but dad was like this ever since i was a kid. she has the alzhiemers but he always says "I don't know what I did to deserve this" and 'I sure must have made the Lord mad at me" It's always all about him. Drives me crazy. I love him but there are days i'd like to put him on a slow boat to china..lol |
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| July 03, 2007 |
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MaryAnn, Sure you can borrow the book, since you were the first to ask :) My copy actually got stolen along with a bunch of other things from my car, a few years ago. (Can you believe someone actually broke into Bessie thinking that they might find something of value??) Anyway, Ingrid gave me her copy and she didn't even know mine was taken.
Mike, Wow, this is a huge compliment! Thanks Bro!!
I will answer the other comments after I get a chance to read them all.
Thank you all for your comments and stars, they are greatly appreciated! |
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| July 04, 2007 |
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Okay, I am back.
Jam, We are actually on the same page this time :) Definately, there is a time to morn. I was talking about a general attitude towards daily living. Obviously it would not be appropriate to go around singing "I've Got the Joy" at a funeral. No one minds a friend who is down once in awhile. I was talking about those who are always down. Those who you know are going to complain about everything, even before you talk to them. So we are cool brother!
Gypsy, Sweet! None of us are where we want to be, but should be heading in the right direction. This topic is definately a process to work through.
Jess, Thank you for your contribution to this post. I was never saying that we should suppress negative feelings, but that we should try to find the good in every situation. When I don't look for the good, the bad always rears its ugly head. We should certainly confront people who mistreat us. If you knew me better, you would know that I am very up front when I feel mistreated. I would much rather deal with the issue at hand then to leave people or myself wondering.
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| July 04, 2007 |
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I think we should bow our heads in prayer that God will help us to keep our heads up. We should kneel at the cross and take a stand for Jesus and finally we should become weak to become strong! |
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| July 04, 2007 |
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Anthony, you crack me up dude! |
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| July 04, 2007 |
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It's interesting. I remember being at a Bible study several years ago where someone made the comment that we should ever be sorrowful because of our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted. On the other hand, I've heard that we should never be sad, because Christ died for us. My take? And I'm borrowing someone else's term here (although I don't know that anything past this term was his idea on the subject). I think we should have a Christ centered attitude. More and more, I'm learning that a Christian life is a balanced life. There is a time to be angered, there is a time to be sorrowful. When I struggle, I take joy in the fact that there is someone who understands. When others struggle, I weep. (Well ok, I'm not perfect yet, so that's not always the case :( ) |
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| July 06, 2007 |
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| On the positive side, Joel does have really nice hair. |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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| My wine glass is empty, let me get another! brb |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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I've asked this before. But the person who came up with the "Glass is half full = optimist, Glass is half empty - pessimist". Well what was he? An optimist or a pessimist? |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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| A realist! |
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| July 07, 2007 |
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| So why can't a realist be positive his glass is half empty! :) |
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| July 11, 2007 |
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Sue, I couldn[t agree more that a good and possitive attitude is important. I would indeed perfer to be around folks with good thinks well of themselves and about the world we live in. Yes, there are many bad and evil things happening daily around us that tend to get us down; but a possitive outlook on life in Christ our Lord is our only true hope. You made some good points here, both possitive and negative.
Thanks for sharing, Sue. |
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| July 11, 2007 |
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Mam , i think that you just hit the nail on the head with this one . There are so many non christians , and even believers , that are always worrieng so much about everythig . We all just need to slow down and let god do the struggling . All we have to do is just do what he wants us to , and most of us know what that is . Just laugh a little . Inever get so worried , that i become negitive . Its just my nature ....
GOD BLESS SUE |
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