How to Overcome Negativity

2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every [negative] thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

The original Greek says, “For the arms of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful through God to overthrow strongholds; overthrowing reasoning’s and every high thing lifting itself up against the knowledge of God and leading captive every thought into the obedience of Christ.”

One of the greatest enemies to you fulfilling your God given destiny in life is negativity. It will literally sabotage your future and deprive you of abundant life. In fact, negativity is a stronghold, it has the power to trap you and hold you back. It will rob you of every meaningful experience because negativity steals your hope, and without hope the outlook is always bleak and your goals unattainable. A negative view, coupled with negative speech is probably the most limiting and polluting factor in life. And the sad thing is many of you do not know how damaging it is!

There is a very popular quote that says, “I am yet to see a monument erected to a pessimist!”

Here are five reasons why you should overcome negativity:

[1] Negativity is a sign of inner defeat God’s word tells us that out of the abundance / the heart the mouth speaks. In other words, your abundance is located in your speech! What you say reveals the condition of your heart; therefore, negativity is an adverse condition of the heart. If you feel defeated inside your confession will line up with how you feel. Negativity always justifies itself. Remember, justifying never changes anything; it simply gives you a reason to accept failure. If you struggle with the concept of success and achievement, you will probably find a reason to criticise.

[2] Negativity chooses its friends Like attracts like! Have you noticed how positive people always annoy negative people! Proverbs 13:20 says, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” Quite frankly, negativity is foolishness, and the foolishness of negativity can destroy you. And remember this, whatever direction your friends are heading in will have a major influence on your future.

[3] Negativity unbalances many aspect of life It does this by magnifying and distorting the truth. Reality ceases to be relevant; doom and gloom become the main focus of life. You should never underestimate the power of what you perceive (your view of life). What you perceive becomes as powerful as the truth. Both the truth and perception have the potential to influence reality. Negativity definitely affects your perception, and therefore, it can influence reality. As with Job, “What you fear will come upon you.” Remember, fear and anxiety is built on what might happen!

[4] Negativity negates the power of life Negativity causes you to live a powerless, unmotivated life. If you do not believe that you can ever own your home it is very unlikely that you will have the motivation to pursue that aim. Negativity does nothing to change your circumstances, it merely accepts and excuses. It breeds a hopelessness that leads some to defeated behaviour such as alcoholism, overeating and substance abuse. Too many lives have become so futile and negative because of the lack of motivation. But the root of this is negativity; negativity amplifies the sense of powerlessness.

[5] Negativity limits the present and sabotages the future Negativity pulls things down to their lowest common denominator. It diminishes the power of expectation with statements like, “I can’t do that.” “I could never try this.” “I could never look like that.” and “I’m just” becomes a regular confession. This is why negativity is such a limiting factor in living the higher way of life that God has made available to you. Limited, powerless thinking reduces you to your expectation level, and even lower! Negative people have very low expectation for success. Don’t allow the quality of your life to fall short of your God given potential.

Now, here are steps you can take to overcome negativity;

[1] Make overcoming negativity a daily decision.

[2] Commit yourself to positive speech on all matters of life.

[3] Refuse to justify your negativity or revel in self-pity.

[4] Choose your friends carefully.

[5] Roll your cares onto Jesus and leave them with Him.

[6] Build your perceptions on the truth of God’s word and not on what might happen or go wrong.

[7] Look for good in everyone (and in every situation), and avoid generalisations and sweeping statements.

[8] Be empowered by a positive outlook and be expectant.

[9] Change your confession to “I can” from “I can’t.”

[10] Bring every thought into captivity and make it obedient to Christ.

Chris Demetriou, 01/07/2007