May 18
“Love…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Continuing on with our discussion about sins that I think many of us are tempted to commit and do commit on a regular basis, today I’d like to mention sins that many of us have fallen into that we may not even think of as sins: negativity, ungratefulness, complaining, ungraciousness, sarcasm, and the like. These sins I believe taint us as Christians and mar our testimony to the world. Some of us, and I definitely include myself in this, see the world as “half empty,” always focusing on what is wrong or what is missing, often unhappy and dissatisfied, frequently complaining about this or that not being right, and even having a sour, sarcastic view of situations and people in particular.
How does this kind of negativity reflect the faithfulness of God and His provision? How can we be salt and light when we are critical and skeptical of everyone? How can we ever see and encourage the good in others if we only see their faults and think the worst of their motives and abilities? I am not and have never been a “positive thinking” kind of person, one who believes that they can alter the outcome of things just by always thinking positive thoughts. I have always been one who walks into a room or situation and starts seeing what is wrong. I am an engineer by training and abilities, and that is what we do, we fix things, we solve problems, we make things better.
But I also am convicted about my negativity, I see the biblical commands about dwelling on that which is good and thinking the best thoughts and giving thanks in everything, and I am praying that God would enable me to obey these commands and become a positive, caring, thinking-the-best-of-others kind of person. Cheerfulness beats glumness any day, every day, and is a lot more tolerable to be around. Thinking the worst just make things worse, trust me on that, and if we presume the worst about people, people will see that in us and want to get away from us as quickly as possible! It is exasperating to be around someone who is always picking at you and finding fault with you.
If this describes you in any way, please repent of these sins! Christ doesn’t need us to give a wrong impression of Him to others. Unbelievers don’t need to see us always critical and negative about them and everything they do. They need to see us love them and accept them and encourage them in any way we can. Not their sin, of course, but they need to see our love and our confidence that they will choose the right thing, by God’s grace. Sometimes, just that positive confidence and kindness toward a person is all they need to turn to Christ. May that characterize our interactions with everyone, always seeking to build them up and lift them up in prayer, loving, serving, and entrusting them to God. They don’t need our negative comments; they need our love.
We will continue this important topic tomorrow.