To View the Video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/GkZ9gBTzfB0
SHOW NOTES
Hi, friends! Welcome to another week of the Hope Rescue Podcast! This week on the podcast we are talking about the problem of complaining. Let's be honest, we all know a complainer. We either are complainers ourselves, we live with a complainer, or we personally know a complainer.
Tim starts by bringing up the connection between a negative attitude and physical health. Our physical health is actually affected by our psychological well-being. A study by Harvard Medical School found that "emotional vitality—characterized by enthusiasm, hopefulness, engagement in life, and the ability to face life's stresses with emotional balance—is associated with a substantially reduced risk of heart attack and stroke." The full article is linked below if you want to check it out for yourself!
We have probably all experienced this personally before. When you have a positive outlook, you physically feel better! Tim quotes Proverbs 17:22 which says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Kimberly brings up that especially in the day we live in, we are running into people’s complaints everywhere we turn. People use social media to complain, vent, or start drama. If we turn on the television, we hear people bickering on the news. It is easy to fall into a habit of complaining or seeing the glass half full when we are constantly surrounded by negativity.
Tim explains that people who are positive and don’t complain often have winsome personalities that attract others in. People who are negative and complain about every little thing are hard to be around and draining. Kimberly says, “There is a difference between transparency and being authentic. Transparency needs to be reserved for a trusted few, but you can strive to be authentic with everybody.” In other words, we don’t need to hop on social media and complain about everything in our lives in order to be transparent with the world. You can be authentic and real without sharing every negative thing that happens.
Kimberly says, “When we have a negative disposition, we bring others down around us, we make ourselves a target for rejection, we elevate ourselves making our problems seem greater than others, and we become a part of the problem instead of the solution.” Tim says, “Indiscriminate complaining diminishes the struggles of people who are actually hurting.”
Tim quotes Philippians 2:14-16 which says, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Complaining undermines our impact. Kimberly says that there is a darkness about negative people who sit and stay in their misery, and we as Christ followers are called to be shining lights in the world. We cannot be shining lights if we are always complaining and disputing with one another. Seeing the bright side and having an optimistic attitude doesn’t always come naturally, and we have to train ourselves to be positive. Kimberly quotes something she read online that said “We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” Whether we are putting effort into complaining or putting effort into seeing the bright side, we are putting in effort so why not make yourself stronger and work to be more positive?
4 Tips to Overcome Negative Thoughts
1. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Our real attitude is what's in our hearts. The first way to overcome negative thoughts is to start your day thankful and rejoicing. If you are starting to feel negative, Kimberly suggests just thanking God for everything that comes to your mind. She does this in the night when she can’t fall asleep or wakes up feeling restless. Nothing is too simple to thank God for.
2. Another way to overcome negative thoughts is to find someone in your life you can encourage. Think of your children, your spouse, your coworkers, your friends, or possibly even a stranger. Thank somebody for who they are and what they do, and you will walk away feeling positive.
3. The third way to overcome negative thinking is to find someone you can serve. Go serve someone without the intention of patting yourself on the back or posting about it on social media. Do it simply to bless someone else, and we guarantee that you will have a positive mindset afterwards.
4. The last tip to overcome negative thoughts is to think of everything in an eternal perspective. When little speed bumps appear in our lives, we need to take a step back and look at the situation from an eternal perspective. If you are young, old, going through a tough time, in pain, struggling, if your marriage is on the rocks or you're having financial problems, step back and look at it from an eternal perspective.
Thanks for joining us this week and make sure to tune in next week as we discuss Israel’s complaining response to their deliverance from Egypt. We love you guys!
QUOTES
“There is a difference between transparency and being authentic. Transparency needs to be reserved for a trusted few, but you can strive to be authentic with everybody.” -Kimberly
“Indiscriminate complaining diminishes the struggles of people who are actually hurting.” -Tim
“Nothing is too simple to thank God for, and starting your morning with a thankful heart will help shape your perspective for the rest of the day.” -Kimberly
“When little speed bumps appear in our lives, we need to take a step back and look at the situation from an eternal perspective.” -Tim
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones
Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
