THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
INTRODUCTION: Although there are no doubt many self-help publications with this title, this sermon is not based on any of them. If an author writes a publication with a title such as this one and doesn’t cite God as the source of all positive thinking ability it’s not something I’m interested in. The answers do not reside in me; they reside in God and his word. It’s not about channeling some unknown energy; it’s about utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit. We have the answers to being able to think more positively and live a more positive life. Let’s see how we can do that.
1) The destructive power of negative thinking.
Pessimism is negative thinking. The glass is always half empty. The worst case scenario will always come to pass. I’m going to fail. And negative thinking turns into negative action. For as a person thinks; therefore he behaves. If I believe I’m going to fail then I probably will. Self-fulfilling prophecy. If I look at myself or my situation this way then I won’t try in the first place. In so doing I will deprive myself of the opportunity to succeed. And chances are if I were to try, and succeed I would begin to replace my negative thinking with positive thinking and climb out of the rut. If I look at the glass as being half empty then I’ll never appreciate the fact that it’s half full.
Depression is negative thinking. I’m never going to get better; things are never going to get better. My life sucks. And depressed thinking leads to depressed behaviors-addictions, self-abuse, suicide. All of this negativity is pretty destructive. This is the thinking and behavior associated with the old nature; a life without the power of Christ. And it’s futile.
Eph. 4:17-19, “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.”
When my thinking is futile (worthless) ie: negative, I lose all sensitivity to the destructiveness of it and I turn my negative thoughts into negative actions and it’s just a vicious cycle that goes on and on and gets worse and worse as time goes on. Instead, we need to clothe ourselves with Christ.
Rom. 13:14, “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
It’s interesting that Paul says, ‘do not even think about how to gratify the sinful nature’. One might think, ‘thinking about doing something isn’t a problem; it’s only a problem if I act on it’. That’s not true. It is a problem because if we think long enough about gratifying the sinful nature then we will wind up gratifying the sinful nature. The thought will eventually turn into the act.
And besides, the thought can be the sin. Jesus addressed this when he taught about lusting being adultery in the heart and how hating your brother is murder in the heart. Jesus wanted the people to know that you don’t have to commit the act in order for it to be a sin. The power of negative thought is that it turns into a negative act. But if we clothe ourselves with Christ we clothe ourselves with the awareness of the destructive power of negative thoughts.
However, just because we’ve clothed ourselves with Christ and have become aware of the destructiveness of negative thoughts; it doesn’t mean we’re still not susceptible to negative thinking. 1st Cor. 10:12, “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
Now, we might be standing firm. However, we can be deceived into thinking we’re standing more firm than what we are and we let our guard down. We commit a sin and say it’s no big deal; just a little slip-no problem. So because it doesn’t have much of an impact on us we find ourselves sinning more often and I continue to think I’m okay but I’m not. And the danger is that I’m slowly drifting away and going downhill yet I’m oblivious to it all because all the while I still think I’m standing firm and then next thing I know-I’ve fallen hard and I wonder how it got to that point.
Rom. 12:3 says we shouldn’t think of ourselves more highly than we ought. In other words don’t think you’re all that. Don’t think you’re arrived; don’t think you’ve got it all figured out. Don’t think you’re above temptation or that you’re super spiritual. Because if we do we are no doubt headed for a rude awakening. The bible says whoever exalts (elevates) himself will be humbled (brought low).
David understood this. He knew the power of deception. That’s why he prayed in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Anxious thoughts are negative thoughts. But David realized that there were times where he might be oblivious to his thoughts being anxious ones. God knew his heart and his thoughts. God already knew whether or not David had any offensive ways in him. So David’s prayer is really about God showing him if his heart and mind weren’t right. He wanted God to show him if his ways were offensive because he could be fooled into thinking his ways were fine when they weren’t.
The bible says we are to be anxious for nothing but sometimes we are and we may justify it if we’re longing for something good. It’s okay to want something that’s good for us, right? But not when we’re anxious about it. Because if we’re anxious we can be restless, worried; obsessed. Instead of just thinking about it we’re anxiously thinking about it. So, if we are having anxious thoughts they need to be replaced with calm thoughts. We need to focus on what will calm us down. God will never leave us or forsake us-calming thought. If God is for me who can be against me-positive thought. Be still and wait upon the Lord is the positive replacement for our anxious thoughts. Sometimes we might not be aware our thoughts are negative so it’s always good to pray like David did and ask God to show us if any of our thoughts are negative so we can get them out of our minds and be led in the right direction.
2) The power of positive thinking.
Rom. 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing l and perfect will.”
Thinking positively doesn’t just happen automatically; we have to choose it-we have to work at it. We need to make the choice to no longer think negatively but rather renew our thinking; exchanging negative thoughts for positive ones. And by doing so my mind will be transformed; instead of routinely thinking negatively my pattern of thought can be positive. And having a positive mindset allows me to see clearly what God’s positive will for me is. And when I can know God’s positive will I can be about doing it. Positive thoughts turn into positive insight which turns into positive action.
Paul was a visionary. He had his eyes on the prize; he had the goal in mind. He had a positive focus on God’s will for his life and he set about doing it. Were there obstacles; yes. But his focus wasn’t on the obstacles as much as it was on the objective. The ones who make an impact in life are the ones who keep their focus on what stands to be accomplished; not what stands in the way. Trouble does not extinguish their fire; in fact often times it fuels it.
Paul knew the power of positive thinking. That’s why he told the Philippians in Phil. 4:8, “Finally, brothers, 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.”
If we were to truly put this formula into practice we would be able to counter all negative thought. Everything we could think of that is positive will fit into one of these categories. When we are bombarded with the lies of the devil, thinking about what is true (the bible) will counter it and change our focus. When our minds are centered on immoral thoughts we need to switch to thoughts of nobility and think about what is honorable. When our thinking is wrong we replace it with right thoughts. When our thoughts drift to impurity we attack it with purity. We turn disgusting thoughts into lovely ones. When we’re fixated on shameful and degrading things we turn to thinking about things that are admirable. We turn thoughts of digression into contemplations of excellence. We replace irresponsible thoughts with praiseworthy ones.
And in all this we understand that the power of positive thinking leads to the power of positive doing. Thinking about what is true can lead to doing what is true. Thinking about what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy will motivate us to do the very things that fit into these categories. And the example and impact we can have because we are positive thinkers and doers are immeasurable. That is the power of positive.
3) The power to overcome negative thoughts comes from Jesus.
2nd Cor. 10:3-5, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
If you are born-again you have the power of the Holy Spirit-enabling you to demolish every thought that is in opposition to the truth. Taking a thought captive and making it obedient to Christ means we are tying it up so it can’t move around freely inside our head anymore.
See, often times we can’t control what comes into our mind. It could be regret from the past, an angry thought toward a person, a demoralizing thought about yourself, whatever. These negative thoughts can come out of nowhere and they’re meant to take us off focus. We might not be able to keep them from entering our minds but we can keep them from renting space in our minds. When we deicide we’re not going to entertain the negative thought and let it run wild we lasso it; we hogtie it and render it defenseless. Then, we turn it over to Christ who sends it away because it has to obey him.
But Christ won’t do anything with it unless we turn it over to him. We will always have the choice whether we want to give the negative thought power or not; it has no power on its own. If we dwell on it then we are giving it power to magnify and grow. However, if we make the negative thought obedient to Christ then he will tell it to get lost. Then, we have to replace it with a positive thought. Heb. 3:1 tells us to fix our thoughts on Jesus. When we do that we are focusing our thoughts on something positive. So, whenever you find yourself struggling with negative thoughts, first, turn your thoughts over to Christ and then turn your thoughts to Christ himself.
David applied the principles in 2nd Cor. 10 and Phil. 4:8. Psalm 13:1-6, “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”
Ever feel like you’re wrestling with your thoughts? Ever feel like you’re going through mental gymnastics? David is wrestling with negative thoughts. His heart is filled with sorrow. Thinking God is not there for him-negative thought. Vs. 3-4 is doom and gloom-negative thoughts. But then look what happens. Look how this psalm ends. David does a 180 and switches his thoughts. But I trust-positive thought. In your unfailing love-positive thought. My heart rejoices-positive thought. In your salvation-positive, I will sing-positive action. God’s goodness-positive. When we find ourselves wrestling with negative thoughts we can turn things around in an instant by focusing on how true, trustworthy, loving and good God is. We can turn things around when we think about how God saved us. We can turn from having sorrow in our hearts to having rejoicing in our hearts. This is the power we have in Christ.
4) Sometimes we need to be reminded to be positive.
2nd Pet. 3:1, “Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.”
To stimulate means to inspire, motivate, incite and excite. The scriptures should stimulate us to think positive. Take Peter himself. At one time his negative thoughts of fear caused him to deny knowing Jesus and his negative thoughts of anger caused him to cut off a soldier’s ear in the garden of Gethsemane turned to thoughts and actions of boldness and compassion.
Peter said his letters were reminders. When our thoughts turn to negativity we need to be reminded of the positive things of scripture in order to get our minds back on wholesome things. We can come across reminders all the time. Whether it’s from the bible or the Holy Spirit speaking to us or we can see a positive or inspirational message or quote and we’re reminded then. We could read a motivating story or see a moving documentary or show and it inspires us and reminds us. There have often been times where I’ll have a negative attitude and I’ll see someone who has it worse than I do and it challenges me to put things in perspective and be more thankful-which is positive.
When we see a person’s positive behavior and attitude we’re reminded to be more positive. Here are some of the characteristics of someone who has a positive attitude: optimistic, confident, certain, constructive, helpful, encouraging, upbeat. Cathy Caiello-boot camp-how can she be so peppy at 6:00 am?! She’s the type who wakes up in the morning saying, “Good morning, Lord!” Then there are those of us who wake up saying, “Good Lord, it’s morning!” The main reason I did the two boot-camps was because of Cathy’s loving, positive encouragement. Positive people motivate others to do positive things. And sometimes we get ourselves into a funk and we need to be reminded to snap out of it and be more positive.
CONCLUSION: Todd Hunter conducted an in-depth survey on pastoral success. All the pastors he researched were hard and diligent workers. Some of these pastors experienced success, while others didn’t. After compiling the results, Hunter noted a curious phenomenon concerning attitudes. 95 % of the successful pastors had continual positive attitudes, while 82 % of the unsuccessful pastors had continual negative attitudes.
I think this statistic points out a very important principle-success-however you measure it-is largely effected by your attitude. This church’s success can be greatly attributed to the positive attitudes of John and others. When I spoke at his funeral, stating how we as a church will press on and that we will not only survive but we will thrive, I know those positive words had an impact on people. And they’re not just words-that’s what I believe; that’s what so many of us believe. The energetic power of positive thinking and doing will be what keeps us moving forward; continuing the work of Christ.
