A CURE FOR NEGATIVITY

         

        1 THESSALONIANS 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  

  Do you know someone that is a negative person? I think we all do. I truly try hard to see the positive in things but for some reason my mind tends to swing to the negative or pessimistic side. I know this part of my character is flawed and I have battled with this flaw. I have tried to convince myself to see good over and over and with many failures I still tend to look at the bad first. I tend to see the worst possible outcome before giving thought to the good. My husband on the other hand is an optimist. Oh how I have yearned to think with an optimistic brain like him. When a situation is up for discussion in our house it goes something like this:

"Babe, should we do.......(fill in the blank)"
"Well if we do that ...it will cost this... and if we have to pay all that then we can't do this...."
"Well I could always do an overtime shift to cover that and we have 2 more months to pay this bill down to make that work out"
"But if you do an overtime shift you will be exhausted when we go do that and won't have any fun anyway so I don't think so"
***Get the idea??

     Negativity means not hopeful or optimistic according to Webster's Dictionary. That definition looks to me like the opposite of being a Christian. I really want to be optimistic!! But even more then that I don't want my kids to be pessimistic!! I had noticed some behavior in one of my children that broke my heart. This particular child doesn't smile as much as the others and continually finds the one negative thing about whatever may be going on. This really saddened my soul. I prayed to the Lord to help me parent her in a way that she would be more positive and happy. God answered me by telling me to give thanks daily. That's it Lord? I thought, but don't I already do that? I took His answer seriously and implemented a plan that when each of my children were up and we were all eating breakfast we would begin to tell God what we are thankful for that day. At first they felt awkward saying the obvious things but as time has gone on they have gotten creative and are truly thinking of the things we wouldn't ordinarily remember to give thanks for. I have even seen a change in my little ones attitude. I feel a new cheerfulness in her presence that delights my heart and I'm sure Jesus's heart is delighted :)