Positivity helps us get through difficult situations and overcome life’s obstacles.


Psalm 103:1–6

‘Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion…’(vv2–4)

Our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours are all linked, so our thoughts impact how we feel and act. So, although we all have unhelpful thoughts from time to time, it’s important to know what to do when they appear so we don’t let them change the course of our day.’* This is the subtle way in which our thought patterns can shape our whole way of life.

Many Christians say to me that they ‘should’ read their Bible or they ‘ought’ to pray more. Such language presents a trap. Neither should nor ought are quantifiable measures and therefore they tyrannise us with a sense of non-performance and failure.

The objective is always to do things we can do, not live under the cloud of what we can’t.

When it comes to both Bible reading and prayer, we set time aside, complete it and draw down the benefit of knowing we achieved what we set out to do. The objective is always to do things we can do, not live under the cloud of what we can’t. As we mature we will begin to speak more positively.

Having set a goal we will complete it and describe it positively; ‘I read my Bible for fifteen minutes today’, in contrast to some unattainable ‘ought’. Positivity helps us get through difficult situations and overcome life’s obstacles (Phil. 4:8). 

God is Himself positive and has revealed that everything ultimately ends positively. We may not always see this, but thinking that leads us to assume a fatal conclusion will increase our anxiety and increase our fear. We are to take every thought captive (2 Cor. 10:5)!

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SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER:

Jer. 29:4–23; Ps. 18:1–36; Rom. 10:5–13; Rev. 11:15–19.

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AN ACTION TO TAKE:

Observe your thoughts and ask yourself if it’s helpful? How does it serve you? How does it make you feel? Then turn it into a positive one.

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A PRAYER TO MAKE:

‘Lord, help me to take every thought captive and grow the mind of Christ within me. Amen.’ (1 Cor. 2:16)

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Micha Jazz is Director of Resources at Waverley Abbey, UK.