"Love believes all things, hopes all things." 1 Corinthians 13:7
I will first start off by admitting.....this is an amazing challenge for me and something I have really struggled with my whole life. Even as a Christian, my mind tends to wonder into the negative fields of doubt and insecurities. This is a place that satan loves to take me and I have had to constantly seek God on ways to avoid this nasty playground.
"Love chooses to believe the best about people. It gives them the benefit of the doubt. It refuses to fill in the unknowns with negative assumptions."
I tend to think the worst in certain situations and a lot of that comes from insecurities. I sometimes get the "they are all out to get me" mentality and become very protective of myself. I easily shut down in certain situations and will just think the worst. Although, I am typically a positive person, it's amazing how negative I can be when it comes to the thought of being treated badly. I am quick to walk away and avoid negative situations instead of facing them head on. Sometimes walking away is a good thing and this is when we need His amazing discernment and wisdom. We need to know when to stick around and when it's time to walk away. Often times, if we just change our perception on situations and circumstances, so many arguments and so much negativity can be avoided.
"It's time to start thinking differently. It's time to let love lead your thoughts and your focus."
You must develop the habit of reining in your negative thoughts and focusing on the positive attributes of the people in your life. Love believes the best. We all make mistakes but that should never overshadow the amazing qualities that we see in our loved ones. Love should always be the main opinion we have of somebody. Love should be the first thing we think of when in the middle of conflict. Love can end a battle and we should all work on ending our battles before they even begin. Love, is the only way we can do this. He loves us and has so much amazing mercy and grace for each of us. Can you imagine how awful it would feel if God expected US to be perfect?? So, why do we expect perfection from others?
We shouldn't.
I dare you to believe the best in people and in your circumstances today!
This is my first time reading your blog, and I tell you what...this is the post I needed to see. I, too, pride myself on being positive all the time.......except that when it comes to other people, I tend to automatically assume the worst. If they say something that hurts me, I'll assume they did it on purpose out of spite, rather than just making a mistake, or even me possibly hearing something wrong. They forget something? They obviously don't think I'm important. And on and on it goes.. I really need to work on believing the best of the people I love, instead of constantly focusing on the negative. Thanks for the proverbial knock upside the head!
ReplyDeleteHa, any time! It's a hard habit to break but possible! I will be praying for this to be better for you!! Thank you for reading! :)
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