Monster by Keith Stonehart

I want to be positive. I really do. I try each day to make positivity my focus, but there is already so much negativity surrounding us.

It begs for our attention, wanting to be validated and justified. I do not want to feed it, but it constantly calls out to me. It calls me by name.

The Monster of Negativity

Negativity is a monster that preys on the good, the light, and the purity inside of us. It devours what we are capable of being and leaves us as vacant, jaded, soul-less shells of what used to be beautiful. We are left full of spite and ugliness instead.

The hunger of this monster is insatiable (impossible to satisfy). It calls my name daily, but I choose to resist. We all must resist.

Many recent events in our culture have brought this monster out in full force: religion, politics, celebrity tragedies, and more. The media delivers these stories straight into our homes with biased agendas on both sides. Too often, we welcome the monster in with open arms.

Turn Off the TV

Neither CNN, Fox News, HLN, nor MSNBC has the answers. They feed us what they want us to consume, and we choose which channel to watch based on our political appetite.

The truth is, conservative and liberal agendas have muddied the waters of right and wrong. By replacing God’s Word with how we “feel,” they have turned the clear water of truth into the gray water of doubt.

God’s Word is the only real standard of truth. If we keep feeding this monster of negativity, it will lead to our undoing.

The Prowling Lion

The Bible warns us about the true source of this negativity in 1 Peter 5:8:

“Be sober-minded [serious and clear-thinking]; be watchful. Your adversary [enemy] the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

If you have ever watched a lion hunt, you know it does not charge from a distance. It creeps slowly, methodically, and quietly. It sneaks up on its prey until escape is impossible.

Then, it pounces with ferocity and completely devours its target. The lion is hunting us today. What are you prepared to do?

Whom Will You Serve?

Should we listen to people with corrupt agendas, or do we listen to God? I say with all sincerity: do not even listen to me if you think I am wrong!

Read the Bible for yourself. Don’t take my word for it; take His.

Negativity is the enemy’s strongest tool because it attacks us from the inside, not the outside. Do not give him another moment of your life.

Whom will you listen to? Whom will you obey? Whom will you serve?

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” — Joshua 24:15

The invitation to study the Bible is always open.

Read Matthew 6:24, Acts 6:27-32, and Joshua 24:15.

GUEST POST from the blog Keith Stonehart is Dead. This is an excellent blog by my friend Keith that contains powerful messages of transformation and living holy in a wicked world.