Look For The Good

Life is not always a bowl of cherries.  Everyone has their ups and downs no matter what their status is in life.  Nothing and no one are perfect.   The only person that was perfect and good in all ways was Jesus.  He was crucified on a cross and died for the sins of humanity.

Miraculously, He rose from the dead on the third day, which confirmed the fact that the dead in Christ will also resurrect to join all Believers that are still living at the time Jesus returns to receive His bride—born-again Christians that are living for God.

After Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead, He then ascended into heaven a short time later to sit at the right hand of God.  Jesus, the Son of God, is making intercession for you and me.  He is our advocate before the Father, our attorney who is pleading our cases before God, because we are imperfect.

Before surrendering my life to the Lord and becoming a child of God, I wallowed in sin for years.  Sinning took me to dismal depths of despair where there was little good to be appreciated.  When God saved my soul, He made all things new.

The difference He made in my life was amazing and still is.  I am bathed in peace and learning how to look for the good around me.  Jesus, alone, made it possible to walk a victorious life, while providing the hope I have of eternal life in heaven.

With so much negativity going on around us, it is hard to adjust one’s mindset to look for the good when so much pessimism is in the world.  When my dad was living, he was strong-willed and had a ‘glass half-empty’ type personality rather than a ‘glass half-full’.

Dad was negative and pessimistic.  Rather than looking for the good in people, I always heard him point out the bad.  Little did he realize that my young mind was being negatively influenced by his comments.  Anyway, this is how I perceived him to be.  I grew up thinking, “That’s just the way he is.”

Perhaps Dad’s demeanor was due to his upbringing or what he faced in life before becoming a Christian.  I really don’t know, because he never talked about his past.  My older brother told me that Dad was a rough character before he met the Lord.

Sadly, negativity followed him, which influenced his personality even as a Christian.  It’s wonderful that God saved his soul and set him free from sin, but I am convinced that he had to plead the blood of Jesus over himself, time after time, to keep the old nature in check after his conversion.  He claimed the following Bible scriptures as his own.

(Philippians 3:12-14), “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” (vs 13) “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.” (vs 14) “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

It is the process of learning, which teaches negative people how to walk away from their old nature and leave it in the past.  The Holy Spirit gives strength to overcome the haunting of old ways.  As we put off the old nature, peace takes its place in our soul.

I am the last child born to Mom and Dad; I have three older siblings.  I knew Dad only as a Christian, but my brother and two sisters knew him before he became a born-again Believer.  They seldom talked about those days with me.  I know very little about what Dad’s life was like, just bits and pieces, and it wasn’t good.

It is common for some people to blame their past for who they are in the present.  In my humble opinion, my perception of this statement is this: I believe it is easier for people to live with old personality traits than to put forth an effort to change them. 

This kind of thinking can become a crutch or even a copout when people convince themselves that it is too hard to change their personality after coming to the Lord.  Let’s face it, if a person is prone to look for the bad rather than the good, it requires a lot of hard work to change negative viewpoints into positive thinking.

I believe when a person determines in their heart to overcome past failures, it is spiritually profitable, because the old skeletons stop rattling around in their brain.  They live in harmony.  Yes, change requires discipline to be able to look for the good rather than focusing on the bad, but it’s worth it!

Fruit does not fall far from the tree.  I know, firsthand, what this statement means.  There are those that convince themselves that they are a product of their environment when growing up, because of being saturated with negative input.  I am no exception, but I strive every day to not be pessimistic like my dad.

In my heart I want to be an overcoming optimist, but it is a challenge at times, because of the influential environment in which I was raised.  Wait a minute!  Although I just wrote the last statement, I do not agree with the last part.  It gives too much latitude to one’s mental ascent when it comes to making changes.

This negative thinking makes it easy to hide from the truth if a person gives into the lie that they are stuck where they are.  Christians can be deceived by Satan if they listen to his rhetoric.  If they are lured into the negative, they may hang onto the phrase, “I am who I am.”  If this happens, a Christian sometimes gives up trying to change.  But it need not happen.  We must not listen to the lies from the pit of hell.  God is change.  He is the positive aspect in looking for the good rather than the bad as we listen to Him.

I endeavor to hold onto the following Bible scripture when trying to be a ‘glass half-full’ Christian, rather than a ‘glass half-empty’.

(2 Corinthians 5:17-18), “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (vs 18) “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ…”

With God’s help and my wife’s positive influence, I have grown in the Lord as I strive to me more like Him.  It is the process of leaning upon Jesus and listening to His encouragement that teaches us how to put off the old nature by allowing the Lord to keep His foot on the neck of the past.

I have always said that my wife, my ‘better half’, is opposite to me.  Katie, as I call her, is at the other end of the spectrum of attitude and giving away from herself.  She is very optimistic in the way she faces life.  Katie lives every day with a smile on her face, while looking for the good around her.

Katie has influenced my personality in such a positive way that I am becoming more like her, thus more like the Lord.  She is very open when using the words, “I love you.”  I’ve heard them so much in our marriage that the words have rubbed off on me, whereas it is now easier for me to say them than ever before.

When I was growing up, I never heard the words, “I love you.” spoken by Dad.  Mom and Dad’s personalities were also completely opposite.  He showed love through his actions rather than using words.  Let’s face it, we all want to be loved and hear the words, “I love you!”  while knowing that someone is looking for good in us.

I am striving, every day, to look for the good in things, but it is a challenge.  I believe change is a choice that everyone can make if they truly want to change something they don’t like in themselves.  Blessings follow when I look for the good, but to focus on the bad creates feelings of despair.

I am glad that I don’t have to lean on my own strength to do better in this area, because the Holy Spirit leads and guides me into all truth.  In God there is joy unspeakable with fullness in living.  When I look for the good, Jesus smiles and I maintain a happy relationship with Him who is perfect.

Remember.  You can change if you want to!  You will look for the good when you lean upon the Holy Spirit and stop relying on your own strength to change.

Written by,

Papa Boyd