We live in a day and age where positivity is glorified more than the word of God. You will hear someone say “you just have to be positive.” I am not against positive thinking however I am disturbed by how little we apply the scriptures in our day to day as we do positive thinking. Positive thinking isn’t what the scripture means when it’s talking about truth and some truths aren’t always positive such as dying to self, loving your enemies, forgiving the ones who wronged you and the list goes on.
Positive thinking doesn’t and shouldn’t replace the scriptures because our thoughts and ways will never be higher than His. Here’s the sad reality, we as christians have fallen into the trap of positive thinking and positive affirmation which has left us with very little room to ponder on truth and when I say truth I’m referring to God’s word or in other words Jesus, being that He is the word of God in the flesh. Truth addresses our identity while positive thinking addresses our current state of being which is often informed by what’s happening to us and around us.
I am guilty of this very thing and I have also encouraged other people to think positively where they needed to apply the scriptures. I think one thing we ought to understand as disciples of Christ is that positive thinking isn’t meant to serve as a substitute to the scriptures. You can’t think your way positively into freedom. So if you are bound to something, you won’t get your way out of bondage by the means of thinking positively, something as this would demand that you engage with scripture as it pertains to freedom and apply those scriptures in your life because the word of God is alive and it’s active.
To take it a step further, Jesus isn’t a positive being, He is truth personified. Jesus never referred to Himself as a positive thinker nor did He advocate for positivity as much as He advocated for truth being that He is truth Himself. He didn’t come to fill our lives with positivity, He came to fill our lives with the truth which essentially is Him. Focusing on being and staying positive allows us to focus on us more rather than a person and His name is Jesus.
Take note that I am not asking you to walk around harboring negative thoughts in your mind, I am however asking that you carefully examine your life and see where you could apply the scriptures as opposed to positive thinking.
