Quenching the Negativity!

The past few days have been pretty real to me. Over the past few weeks, I feel that God has been speaking to me about my having such a negative spirit. Though we can laugh about people's bad moods and get great quotes from them (at least I do), when it comes down to it, it's not Godly to be so negative. It just isn't. God wants us to be different and stand out from others, but how can we do that if we are just so angry and bitter about the world around us? What joy can a lost world look to when children of light only grumble and complain? This is a problem!

Without getting into too much detail, I feel very convicted about this in my life. I can look to the person that I know God wants me to be, and see where I have failed. I /want/ to be that person, and I am done making excuses about why I am, or am not who I need to be. While I don't exactly know HOW to become this 'happier' more encouraging and positive individual, I know that there are many positive things I can say about an uplifting, patient God.

Today what I want to do is make a list about the things that I am truly grateful for about God. I don't have a set number - at first I wanted it to be like 25 things, or 50 things that I appreciate, but I don't want it to be fake as I just come up with things to fill a number. I want to write down things that REALLY matter and have personally meant a great deal to me in my life. For those reading this, if you want to make your own list I challenge you to do so! Again I don't know exactly how to go about not being so negative, but I know that if I focus all my attention on such a great God, there won't be anything left to be bitter about. So perhaps seeing where God has blessed others would serve to be a smile on my face and yours :D

Here goes!

1. Being my best friend, even when I was the worst friend in return

2. Simple as it is, just being there. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

3. Always bringing out the best in me - better yet, MAKING the best attributes in me.

4. The fact that you are someone I will never get bored of, and will never be able to 'figure out'

5. Giving me PURPOSE!

6. Being such a good author. And you don't over use exclamation points.

7. That your solutions work. While I don't understand them, it's great to see your plans for mankind. I look forward to when peace on earth is more than just a holiday greeting.

8. For meeting me where I am and being relevant and patient with me - I'm pretty stubborn.

9. Taking the initiative and giving me the next step.

10. For being such a unifying person. It's great how many 'strangers' I relate to, simply because of our common faith.

11. For never being okay with where I am now, and never allowing me to think it's okay either.

12. For caring enough to DO something, and not get frustrated and only doing things halfway.

13. Of course, my salvation. That's such a good churchy term, so what that means to me, is that I CAN have a relationship, that I don't get what I deserve, and that for whatever reason, God sees me as someone he wants to be with for ETURNITY. I don't think there are many people I want to spend literal eternity with, and I know how eh, annoying I can be sometimes. I really like the fact that God WANTS me to be around. Makes it so I want to be around him too :D

For right now, that's what I've got. My goal is to be in the Word and let his truths reform my thinking until I am more aligned to what He wants me to be. I don't want to be negative, and I don't want to drain people when they are around me. I want to be an encouragement to others that are in the day to day walk with Christ as I am.