Positive Vibes or a Good God?

"I need your positive vibes today!" "I am sending some positive thoughts your way!" It's the kind of dialogue we see and hear all the time. It's quite thoughtful and sounds great, but is it doing anyone any good? Is it okay for us, as Christians, to use this kind of lingo?

I am not a fan of the term "positive vibes." People do not always know what they even mean when they say it. But, for many, they are really saying that positive thoughts trump the Christian practice of prayer. People use to say, "I'll pray for you!"Now people say "I'll send my positive vibes your way!"

I'm sorry, but if I am sick, your positive vibes are going to do me no good. If you were to come visit me, you could cheer me up, out of the goodness of your heart, or pray. According to the Word of God, prayer is powerful and effective. James 5:16 says, "confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

The idea that we need to rise up positive energy from the universe to use for our own good is a New Age belief. As Christians, we believe that positive energy comes from God. Everything comes from God because he created everything out of nothing. We are not to worship the energy, but to recognize where the positive energy originates.

Zig Ziglar, a motivational speaker and Christian, taught that positive thoughts -> positive action -> positive results -> positive emotion. We are not to act purely out of emotion, but out of our knowledge from the Word of God. We can have joy (emotion) because we first know that we have eternal life (thoughts). We know that good things are to come, so we can have peace and joy in this life.

Sometimes if we do not feel positive or happy, instead of just doing a happy dance, we can think about why we are to be happy. Scripture tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 to "be joyful always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." By being grateful for our blessings we can have joy in our hearts. Romans 8:28 tells us that "in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him." We can be positive today in knowing that God works for our good.

I hope this blog encourages you today!

Thanks for reading!

~Melissa Seng