Stay Positive

I’m sure many of you could stand up and say and say you’ve had awful days; where you felt like you couldn’t make it to the end of the day. Why does that happen to Christians? There is a false

perception some people hold that says once you are a Christian everything will be smooth sailing; you won’t have any more problems or difficulties.

That is not true…so not true!

When Paul wrote His letter to the Philippians I’m sure there were lots of other things he would rather be doing than sitting in jail chained to a guard (read Philippians 1:1-11). Yet, even then he persisted to be positive…so much so that his letter to the Philippians is the most joyous of all his letters written…and he was in chains.

How can you stay positive like Paul?

First you must REMEMBER THE POSITIVE. We judge ourselves and other people too harshly. We see the flaws first and focus there. That is the wrong attitude and it is trouble for relationships. Instead, you need to practice minimizing mistakes, for you and others, and remember the good. Have you ever noticed how when you go down memory lane that it is your bad memories that ambush you? I love what Billy Graham says about this to help us—“there is healing power in selective memory; as humans we cannot forget our sins and hurts, but through forgiveness we can choose not to remember them.” Pray, and ask God to help you forgive yourself & others!

Paul agrees and when he wrote Philippians he focused on remembering the good in them because he put the church first and himself second. Later in the letter Paul writes, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Learn from the Apostle Paul’s wisdom. Filter out the mire and work hard to focus on the positive! Be blessed!