CLERGY CORNER: A New year – focus on the positive

Posted on 17 January 2013 by LeslieM

Wow! Another year has passed so quickly yet again. I don’t know about you but when the New Year rolls around, I will begin to think about preparing my taxes and collecting all the information that I am going to need. Every year, you have to do the same things and collect the same information over and over again. It is one of those things in life that we just have to do and there is no way around it. Every year, we have to take the task of evaluating our finances and give an account to the IRS so they make sure that they get their share. It seems like a constant evaluation process that we must do no matter what, or face the consequences of fees and fines.

This is, of course, the time of year when we evaluate our lives and make our New Year’s resolutions. I do not like New Year’s resolutions because we just do not keep them and follow through. Statistics show that of the ones who actually make a New Year resolution, only 3 percent will keep it … so chances are that you are one of the 97 percent. Let’s face it, if you did not want to do something all year long, what makes you think you will do it now? When we make a New Year’s resolution, we tend to look at the negative things in our lives that we do not like, and we want to change to make them better. I believe that there are things in our lives that we should change and make better. What if you tried something different and, instead of looking at the negative things in your life from last year, you focused on the positive things that happened to you, your friends and your family? We focus too much on the negative things in life all the time when the good things really outweigh the bad. When we focus too much on the bad things, they will appear to be larger than they really are. We can focus more on the good and positive things, and make the bad and negative things seem smaller instead.

PHILIPPIANS 4:8

8: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” NLT

Why is it easier for us to repeat the negative things in our lives than it is for us to repeat and tell everyone about the positive things that happen? We need to make an effort to let the bad things go and to forgive and be grateful for the good things that happen to us. If you can change your attitude about your life, then maybe your life will be a whole lot better. It is too easy to be negative and bitter; lots of people do that already. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Thank God for what you have, and do not focus on what you do not. Be blessed and be positive.

Pastor Tony Guadagnino is a pastor at Christian Love Fellowship Church.

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