Have you ever noticed how fun it is to be around positive thinking people? No matter how bad the circumstance, negativity never enters their minds, or crosses their lips to form negative, words!
Negative attitudes come from negative thoughts. We know that none of this negative stuff is coming from God.
How do we get to a place where our positive attitude is natural?
God's version of a right attitude contains nothing negative. It starts with right thoughts — God’s thoughts!
Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Matthew 15:11
It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
Matthew 12:33-37
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Proverbs 15:1
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger
Karen Wolff of Christian-Books-for-Women.com has tips for positive thinking
- First, focus on what you're thinking about.
It is possible to control our thoughts, regardless of what we've been led to believe. As soon as a negative thought comes into your mind, purposefully make it a point to replace it with a positive one. (2 Corinthians 10:5) At first, this may take some work, because chances are, we will probably have a lot more negative thoughts in our head than positive ones. But eventually, the ratio will reverse itself.
- Second, stop letting other people's negative attitudes influence yours.
This may mean we need to stop hanging around with people who do nothing but spout negative stuff. We can't afford to do this when our goal is to become more positive. The negative people in our life aren't going to like it when we stop participating in negativity. Just remember that birds of a feather really do flock together.
- Third, make a list of all the areas in your life that you want to change.
List all your negative attitudes too. If you can't think of things to put on your list, just ask your family. I'll bet they'll help you make it a really long list!
- Fourth, take some time to write strong, life-giving, positive affirmation statements.
Make a commitment to read those statements out loud every day. Enjoy how great they make you feel. Know in your heart that you're making progress, even if you can't see it just yet. Just keep affirming the positive.
- Lastly, take time to pray about this.
You can't change by yourself. But you can spend time with the One who is able to help. Do what you can, and let God do the rest. It really is that simple.
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