HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
By Cougan Collins

lgchurchofchrist@cableone.net

We live in a society that is obsessed with negative news. Whether you watch the news on TV or read it in the newspaper, most of it is gloom and doom. How often do they cover good news? Not often enough. As much as we focus on negative things, it shouldn’t surprise that many in our nation are depressed.

While it is hard to have a positive attitude while being surrounded by negativity, as Christians, we should have a positive attitude about life because we are the children of God. When we remind ourselves of how awesome our Creator is and what He has done for us, it will help us to have a positive attitude about life. When we look at the beauty of a sunrise or a sunset or enjoy the wonderful smell of a flower, we can know that God created everything on the earth for us (Ps. 19:1).

Knowing that God created us with a free will should cause us to have a positive attitude as well. He could have made us like mindless robots, but He wants us to choose to serve Him. If we choose to love Him, we will serve Him and keep His commandments (1 Jn. 5:3). When we fear God and obey His commands, it will cause us to have a positive attitude because we can know that He will bless us, and we will receive the promise of heaven (Rev. 2:10).

It should cause us to have a positive attitude knowing that the Word of God thoroughly equips us with the knowledge we need to live faithfully to God (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3), which means we do not have to guess or wonder if our final home will be in heaven (1 Jn. 5:13).

We should have a positive attitude knowing that we are never alone because God is always there for us. No external forces can separate us from the love of God or the salvation He has offered us through His Son (Rom. 8: 35-39; Heb. 13:5-6).

We should have positive attitude knowing that other Christians have been through the same trials we have and were able to resist the devil steadfast in the faith (1 Pet. 5:6-11). It will help us to spend more time with our brethren, since they are striving to be a positive light in our dark world.

When we choose to serve God and keep His commandments, we should have a positive attitude about it because John said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).

Finally, we should have a positive attitude about life when we read about how beautiful heaven will be, and how their will no more pain, sorrow, or tears there (Rev. 21:3-4). When we think about our short our life on this earth compared with eternity in heaven, it will help us get through any misfortune in our lives (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

Those who do not believe in God have no hope in this life. To me, their existence is a miserable one, but to those of us who are Christians, we know we are not alone. We can have a positive attitude in a dark world because we have the hope and assurance that God is involved in our lives, and we will get to spend eternity with Him in heaven. We invite you to worship with us at the Lone Grove Church of Christ – lgchurchofchrist.com.