The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

THE MOST important attitude to have in your everyday life is a positive one, a number of Bahamian Christians told Tribune Religion.

While some may come into the New Year setting goals for themselves, some Bahamians said the most important action to take is to learn how to avoid negativity and lean closer to God.

“You have to understand that Satan uses anyone to try to attack you. Whether it may be by an insult or offense, the devil uses people to get them out of love and get them frustrated. At the end you are only going to fight back with negativity, which is his plan. But when you recognise that it is only Satan working through others, you will respond much better to the negative vibes. The bible says as Christians we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities and evil forces in spiritual places,” said Ashanti Archer, an Anglican.

For Ruth Pinder, another member of the Anglican church, keeping positive is easier than it sounds. She said the first thing is to be happy with yourself, and keep yourself grounded with God’s teachings.

“That is to be happy for what you have and don’t be envious of what others have. People have two remember that there is nothing wrong with self-improvement. If you find yourself constantly annoyed, feeling angry towards another person, or just unhappy in general, take time to pray and focus on the good aspects to your life. Whenever you find yourself feeling down, immediately focus on something positive,” said Ms Pinder.

Sharing her thoughts via her website, international author and speaker, Joyce Meyer said: “I was taught to be negative when I was growing up. I lived in an abusive atmosphere with negative people, alcoholism, fear, ranting and raving. As a result, I developed an attitude that it was better to expect nothing good than to expect it and be disappointed when it didn’t happen. I often wondered, What’s going to go wrong next?”

Ms Meyer said it was not until she was an adult that she realized she was living with evil forebodings, which created a vague feeling around her all the time that something bad was going to happen.

“One day, God spoke to my heart about this. He showed me that I was dreading that something bad was going to happen, but he wanted me to expect good things to happen. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God’s thoughts and plans for us are “for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome,” said Ms Meyer.

Dayelle Duncombe, a Catholic believer, said she did not make any particular resolution this year, because she never sticks to them. Instead, she said she is constantly praying hard to God to keep her positive.

“There are so many negative and evil forces out there that just want to tear you down, and I want to stay far from that. I know I cannot do this by myself, I need the help and assistance of God. I need him to guide me on this path I want to go this year. If more people seek self improvement and lead more on the humility side, then I really think this world would be a better place,” said Ms Duncombe.

Ms Meyer added: “The truth is, God doesn’t work in us through negative attitudes full of self-pity, laziness, passivity or an everybody owes me perspective. God works through faith. But before we can have faith, we have to have hope.”