“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
– Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

2 Timothy paints a bleak picture of the last days and the difficulties the world will face in those perilous times. People will be lovers of self and money. They will be proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will have the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Wow! Not a very encouraging picture to look at is it? As we navigate in a world that is often unrecognizable, it’s easy for us to give all our attention to the problems. That’s exactly the strategy Satan wants us to take. The more he can distract us and shift our focus away from the things of God, the more he laughs in our face. How can we put Satan in his place and do battle against all the negativity surrounding us?

Someone once told me if you want to focus on the positive more than the negative, stop fertilizing the weeds. That’s sound advice. I’m convinced that we are all more than familiar with what the problems of the world are. I also think we know that dwelling on negative thoughts and facts does very little to change anything. In fact, I would say that the opposite is true. Research has proven that what we focus on has a major impact on our attitude as we confront difficult situations. What if in the garden that we call our mind, we decided to pull a weed and plant a flower? What if we started to put more of our energy and thought into positive things? In Philippians, the Apostle Paul invites us to focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable. That’s sound advice—the choice is ours.

Heavenly Father, help me to fertilize the good thoughts today and not the weeds of negativity. Teach me to focus on You and not the obstacles that surround me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.