Negativism

I know a lot of people who seem to have this trait, and I tend to struggle with it as well. I notice that I wrestle with it more when I am around others who are negative, grumblers and complainers. But to be quite honest, I don’t need anyone’s help. I have the negativism thing down pretty good on my own. Why do we do this? I’m not really sure. Sometimes, as Americans, I think we are a bunch of big ‘ole spoiled brats. We have more than we need and when things don’t quite go our way, we get all upset. We stomp our feet like little children and get angry. Then we start to moan and groan and complain and grumble. But I think we are showing ingratitude toward God when we do. I believe we must seek to change this by becoming grateful to God for all the blessings He has given us. Otherwise, we are sort of acting like the Israelites back in the Old Testament. They moaned and groaned and complained, too. And what happened to them? They wandered around in the desert for 40 years!! I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want to do that!!! I want to get victory over being negative, complaining and grumbling and to stop wandering around in the desert!!

Well, I came across this wonderful devotional from Our Daily Bread. I actually tried not being negative for a week. Let me tell you, it’s harder than you think. At least it was for me. I felt like the harder I tried, the more I failed. I felt like there was a little demon following me around saying, “Oh yeah, I’m not going to let you succeed at this, Missy.” But, that did not stop me from trying. And, so I continue… when I fail, I repent and ask God’s forgiveness and keep on trying. One of these days, I will have victory over it. Because “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

Clean Up The Environment
What a frustrating problem pollution is! Everybody suffers with it, yet everybody contributes to it.

Pollution takes many forms, but one type is often overlooked. Charles Swindoll calls it “verbal pollution,” passed around by grumblers, complainers, and criticizers. “The poison of pessimism,” Swindoll writes, “creates an atmosphere of wholesale negativism where nothing but the bad side of everything is emphasized.”

A group of Christian friends became concerned about this form of pollution and their personal part in it. So they made a pact to avoid critical words for a whole week. They were surprised to find how little they spoke! As they continued the experiment, they actually had to relearn conversation skills.

In Ephesians 4, Paul called believers to that sort of decisive action. He said we are to “put off” the old self and its conduct that grieves the Holy Spirit (vv.22,30) and “put on” the new self that builds up others (v.24). As we rely on the help of the Spirit (Gal 5:16) we can make those changes in our conduct, our thinking, and our speaking.

If we want to be rid of verbal pollution, we must choose to change and ask for God’s help. It’s a great way to start cleaning up our spiritual environment.
~by Joanie Yoder/Our Daily Bread (April 8, 2010)

I hope this has been an encouragement and blessing to you.

God Bless!! :o)