One of my daily devotionals this week used a phrase that I wasn’t familiar with – negativity bias. So my curiosity got the best of me & I decided to research it a bit. Here are just a couple of quotes from the article:
“This bias toward the negative leads you to pay much more attention to the bad things that happen, making them seem much more important than they really are.”
“It is the ‘bad things’ that grab our attention, stick to our memories, and, in many cases, influence the decisions that we make.”*
This is what the author of my devotional book – Chris Tiegreen – had to say about it – “Negativity bias can be explained in psychological and neurological terms, but it has profoundly spiritual implications. It colors our ability to give thanks, to have faith, to hold on to hope, and to express love. It causes us to worry about everything that might go wrong rather than enjoying everything that goes right. It drives us toward our problems and losses, toward unfortunate exceptions rather than helpful examples, toward questions about unanswered prayers rather than a celebration of those answered, toward people’s flaws rather than their assets, and on and on. Negativity shapes our lives and attitudes in subconscious ways and undermines our spiritual growth. It’s part of our nature.
But it’s only part of our fallen nature, not our redeemed and restored nature. It is not a reflection of the image of God within us…Overcoming our negativity bias is more than good exercise; it’s actually a sign of the Kingdom of God growing within us.”
Those thoughts caused me to think about the old question about how we tend to look at life – is the glass half full or half empty? I thought about how some people are just such a pleasure to be around, because no matter what’s going on in their life they exude joy; while others are a beating to be around because it seems nothing in their life ever goes right – and, they just can’t help but share about it. In reality, I believe most of us generally fall somewhere in the middle. It’s easy to look at life as though the glass is half full when your life is going along smoothly; but, when we hit those inevitable rough spots, that glass drops to half empty really fast.
We also need to be ever aware about how our attitude, words, actions can have a dramatic affect on others as well. Both negativity and positivity tend to “rub off” on the people that we interact with on a daily basis. So how do we want to be viewed by others? That joyful person we like to be around? Or, the person that’s a beating to endure?
Because I would like to think that the Kingdom of God is growing within me, I figured I could use some encouragement – therefore, I decided to look up some Bible verses that address the issue of positivity so that I can meditate on them. I don’t know about you, but I need all the help and encouragement I can get in order to stay on the glass half full side of this issue. I want to think and say the things that are pleasing to God, then I can be confident that they’ll also be pleasing to all to hear my words. Here are some things I found:
“Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” (1 Thes. 5:16-18 MSG)
“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” (Philipians 4:8-9 MSG)
“On a good day, enjoy yourself; On a bad day, examine your conscience. God arranges for both kinds of days, so that we won’t take anything for granted.” (Ecc. 7:14 MSG)
“A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.” (Prov. 15:13 MSG)
“May my words and thoughts please you. Lord, you are my Rock—the one who rescues me.” (Ps. 19:14 ERV)
Mr. Tiegreen’s prayer at the end of the devotional was this – and I’m going to make it my own prayer: “Father, give me the right bias. Help me flip the switch in my brain that is drawn to the problem areas of life. Fill my heart, mind, and spirit with truth, hope, joy, gratitude, and celebration – and let my bias affect the attitudes of everyone I meet. Amen.”
Written by Karran Martin – June 15, 2024
[All bold emphasis is mine]
Karran's Korner 
Very good. I try to hang around church sisters that are positive. Negativity brings me down.
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