Negativity’s Attraction
The pastor of my church continues to address the thoughts and mindset of our human nature. This past week’s sermon addressed the attraction humanity has to negativity. He quoted some studies to illustrate.
One study, done in 2023, found that when more negative words appeared in a headline, the more clicks the article received. Similarly, the more positive words added, the less clicks. Another study showed that when people needing a surgery with a 70% success rate, people who were given the negative number of 30% fail rate given first opted not to have the surgery. Negative imprint on the mind lasts longer than positive ones.
Distorts View
Negativity affects our mood and distorts our view about reality. We do a great job or perform well in a sport. Our boss or coach give us one thing to improve upon and we negate all the good things we did. We get more agitated at people over the fake conversation we’ve had with them in our head. Driving, we yell at someone who turns right in front of us instead of waiting for the open road behind us thinking they just want to piss us off (well, maybe I’m the only one who does that!).
Occasional negative thoughts, like fear, serve as a survival mechanism. If I get in a cage with a bear, it will kill me. That’s a healthy thought. The problem occurs when these thoughts consume us or become our permanent mindset; we paint everything in life with negativity. This negativity leads us to make decisions and do things we normally wouldn’t do.
When our hearts lean toward negativity, our minds move toward it. Our lives follow our strongest thoughts. Proverbs 17:22 says it this way: A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.
What are the strongest thoughts in your mind that shapes your day? Do you wake up moaning “Ugh, I don’t want to get up”? Or do you wake up thinking “Thank you God for preserving my life!” If you are breathing (and you’re reading this so I assume you are), God has a plan and purpose for you. Do you believe that?
Enemy encourages
The enemy loves negativity. He wants you to believe you are the only one that feels a certain way, are alone, broken, not fun, etc. Satan used negativity to trick Adam and Eve in the garden. He cast God’s instruction to them about not eating from one tree in the entire garden in a negative light: “God doesn’t want you to be like Him. Eat this and you’ll be like him.” The enemy loves to use lies to deceive us. He attacks our thoughts, not only about how we view others but also how we view ourselves.
Your voice matters
No one is more influential in your life then you are; you talk to yourself all the time whether you realize it or not. I’m not sure how they gathered this data, but we spend 1400 hrs speaking to ourselves. We ruminate out loud. Do we ever say good things to ourselves out loud? When I was watching the French Open, a tennis commentary said a sports psychotherapist told her to speak to herself like she was giving advice to her good friend. I think we could all benefit from doing this.
God’s voice matters
What do you regularly tell yourself about God and your circumstances? Do you doubt Him or do you have hope? God gave us the Bible so we could discern the enemy’s lies. When the enemy or world says you are worthless, dozens of verses in the Bible speak to your inherent value. We can defeat the lies and convince our hearts about the truth by speaking God’s truth to it.
We can reframe our thoughts by having a Biblical mindset. Believe God is present in your situation, ask Him to show you His presence, give you hope, increase your faith, or whatever it is you need. God desires a relationship with you. No matter the circumstances, God walks with us and heaven lies before us. We can live in light of that hope.
Prayer
God we know that in all things You work for the good of those who love You, who have been called according to Your purpose. Protect our minds from the enemy. Renew our minds. Help us to read and believe Your Word, to think about whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything excellent or praiseworthy. Remind us to talk to ourselves as we would to a beloved friend (Romans 8:28, 12:2, Philippians 4:8)
