Taming Your Negative Monster

It lurks in the darkness waiting to rear its ugly head. Close behind thoughts of doubt and pessimism. Hanging on the skirt tails of comparison. And just below the surface of low self-esteem.

It’s the negative monster and it will claw its way into ruling your life.

If you let it.

I could’ve titled this post “Taming Amy’s Negative Monster” if I’m being honest. I’ve lived with one for as long as I can remember. He’s probably about the size of big foot and carries around a big plate of you’re not good enough and this sucks. This little booger likes to manifest into my outlook on life. I’m talking glass half empty, worse case scenario, end of the world kinda stuff. If I don’t watch my attitude’s back, my negative monster will come out and find ways to take a simple situation and turn it gloomy.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

Negative monsters like to prey on things like comparison, discontentment, and other negative people. It’s hard sometimes to see how bad your attitude has gotten until it affects your relationships.

The Bible says:

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. – Proverbs 17:22

I don’t know about you, but I would love to be known as a person so cheerful that I’m like good medicine.

God has really been speaking to my heart lately about my attitude. I’ve almost felt scolded in a way. Do you ever feel that way? Like my daddy is telling me that I need an attitude adjustment or I’m grounded. I find myself saying things and almost immediately feel conviction in my spirit about what I’ve just said. I’m thankful for these moments in my walk with Christ. They are perfect examples of God’s work in me. He is forever perfecting you too!

Keep your mind on things that are: true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and excellent, and worthy of praise. – Philippians 4:8

Basically, we need to focus our thoughts on God’s truth. This means recognizing falsehoods, pursuing the truth, and constantly reminding ourselves of the truth.

The things we say don’t just start by popping out of our mouth. They begin in our thoughts.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5

Paul is talking to the Corinthians here about the power of the enemy and spiritual warfare. He says to take everything thought captive and make it obey The Lord. We have to renew our minds.

But God looks at our hearts. Why do we have to work so hard on our minds? Because our minds can change our hearts! If the end goal is to have a pure and clean heart, we have to make our mind agree with the truth we know in our hearts. After all, the Holy Spirit himself lives there.

This is a constant battle that we will all be in all of our lives. The enemy doesn’t take a sick day. He wants to take your thoughts, your heart, and anything else he can get it hands on and destroy them. Destroying everything in its path along with it. This is why it’s so important to continually take negative thoughts and feelings and wrangle them like a one ton bull, bringing them fully under control of Christ.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. – Ephesians 4:29

Let’s be cognizant of the words we speak to others. Just like Paul says the Ephesians above, if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Don’t even let it come out of your mouth. Use your words to build others up. 

A good man produces good deeds from a good heart. And an evil man produces evil deeds from his hidden wickedness. Whatever is in the heart overflows into speech. – Luke 6:45

Your positivity and your negativity all flow from the same place, the heart.

Everything single one of these things is something that I need to work on right now. This is one of my daily prayers. If you struggle with a negative monster, first all you need to tell that thing to beat it! Your heart is occupied viagra vendre. And then let’s look at some ways you can be more positive right now.

1. Pray about it. This one may seem obvious, but it took me a long time to actually do this. Telling God about your want to change shows that you heart is ready for a change.
2. Choose joy. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 says Always be joyful. It’s not always easy to do this, but choosing to be joyful rids the devil of his power. Take THAT devil!
3. Focus on the positive. Easier said than done, huh? If you can focus on finding positive in every situation, you’ll be surprised how much more positive that you actually find.
4. Say only positive things about yourself to others and about others. Back to the, “if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all” rule. This applies to self-talk as much as it does speaking about others. Edification is always the goal.
5. Surround yourself with other positive people. In the past 2 years, I’ve notice how big of a difference it makes to be around others who are positive. It has changed me. If it means letting go of friends that bring you to a negative place, so be it.
6. Have an attitude of gratitude. No matter how bad things are, there are tons of things to thank God for. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says- Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Change your grumps to gratefulness.
7. Have an attitude of worship. There is no greater joy than connecting with The Lord in intimate worship. Praising the One who created us and receiving His amazing love fills our hearts and no doubt gives us a supernatural positive feeling. Let it simmer there in your soul and then let is spill out to those around you.
8. Fact or Fiction? This is choosing whether your negative thought/words are from God (fact) or the enemy (fiction). Grab that thought, make choice based on if it’s God’s character and then act. Say out loud if you have to, “I rebuke that in the name of Jesus”. 
9. Baby steps. Becoming a positive thinker doesn’t happen overnight. God spends our whole lives refining us. Any change for the better is a good one! Set small goals that are easy to obtain and celebrate your progress. Thank God for making you into a better person. That will help with your #6! 🙂

Do you have issues with negativity? Please tell me I’m not the only one!