POSITIVE ATTITUDES
Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
It's had been a slow four and a half days of hunting for Rob. He had seen some deer but nothing big. While he is normally a positive hunter, that day he had had enough and when I asked if he wanted to move to another stand he jumped at the opportunity, but left all of his hunting equipment in the stand
In contrast Doug had seeing a lot of deer but nothing big enough to shoot. He stayed positive and when Rob asked him to pick up his stuff out of the stand that afternoon, he readily agreed. Doug decided to stick out the afternoon in Rob's stand seeing he was there already and it had a pretty view. Doug's attitude remained good and he was rewarded with a wide antlered, beautiful buck just before dark. Positive thinking will always win out over negative thinking.
This story illustrates a problem that all too frequently occurs in our lives. It's because we don't live out the Apostle Paul's words, "whatever is true". This is the first reality... seeing things as they are, not as they might be. Then, "Whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise. Think about these things".
This is a deliberate choice of the will to refuse to think about the negative, but instead to think about the positive in any situation, or about any person. Then the God of peace will be with you. If you set your mind to that, the God who dwells within us will express himself in terms of peace rather than anger and confusion
According to studies by Dr Barbara Fredrickson, a professor of phycology at the University of North Carolina, "Negative attitudes and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness can create chronic stress, which upsets the body's hormone balance, depletes the brain chemicals required for happiness, and damages the immune system. Chronic stress can actually decrease our lifespan. (Science has now identified that stress shortens our telomeres, the "end caps" of our DNA strands, which causes us to age more quickly.) Poorly managed or repressed anger (hostility) is also related to a slew of health conditions, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), cardiovascular disease, digestive disorders, and infection."
The apostle Paul's words take on more meaning when we see how negative thinking can destroy us physically as well as mentally. Satan doesn't want God's people to be positive. He can't be defeated by a negative attitude, only by a godly, positive one.
God wants us to live out Paul's word's.... "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
These things not only keep us happy, but healthy as well.
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