Watch the Video below by Steve McVey about Christian Religion Lie #88 “Faith Requires That We Act Positively In Every Situation” and my comments follow…
This is the idea that you can’t express anything negative… or feel negative about something… or just feel bad, or not so positive about a situation.
That no matter what happens you’re HAPPY about it…
That if you really HAVE faith… if you’re really being FAITHFUL… “a good Christian”… you’ll always be positive about everything — no matter the situation or circumstance.
Why is this lie hurtful?
Because it causes Christians to become hypocritical, to live a lie.
If you believe this lie, you’ll think you always have to put on a “mask” of feeling positive all the time, and never feeling bad about anything…
You have negative emotions, you don’t need to lie about them. You will face times in your life when you’re not happy, when you’re depressed, when your outlook is not so “positive”… and it’s ok.
Does the Bible say we should always be positive?
No!
The Bible affirms the fact that we are all human and that we are going to face times that will knock us off balance… crush our happiness… stomp our positivity and even kill our will to live… BUT the Bible never shows God condemning us for feeling this way.
Look at Job, look at Paul, both were depressed, both weren’t looking at everything “positively”. Job poured out his case to God, deeply depressed over everything that had gone wrong in his life.
Paul said he despaired even to the point of death… But they didn’t sin, there’s no problem with this.
Even Jesus didn’t feel positive about everything. Before His arrest, He was so stressed He was sweating blood… and asked God more than once if He could somehow avoid His fate of being crucified… He certainly wasn’t looking forward to it!
But there was no sin in this lapse of positivity…
What Faith Is (and Requires)…
The only requirement of faith is NOT being positive in every situation. The only requirement is in being positive of WHO is in charge. In being positive of who God is…
Faith only requires that you trust God. You don’t have to be happy through every moment of your plight, you don’t have to fake positivity, you can feel like crap… just trust God to be who He is. Love.
And trust that He always has the best in store for you… that your life is unfolding according to His perfect plan… that no matter what His heart is one of GOODNESS and LOVE towards you.
When you understand who God is, you don’t have to be happy about every little thing that happens to you (even if it’s bad)… you don’t have to put on a pretend mask of “positivity” in every situation.
You can relax into your emotions, not fight them, and simply choose to trust in God when you don’t know what else to do. You can tell God all about how you feel. So don’t believe this lie anymore that faith requires you to be positive.
With Love 
Caleb
{ 0 comments… add one now }