by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Sometimes, I see posts where someone may say that they’re “done” with negative people in their lives.\u00a0 I suppose they mean that they will avoid people they disagree with or are simply disagreeable. The problem is, that’s impossible. “Negative people” are all around us. What else would we expect in a broken world? As Paul mentioned in I Corinthians 5:9-10, to not have any interaction at all with sinful people, one would have to leave the planet. It’s still true. Like Texas mosquitos in summer, negative people are everywhere. Another problem is that it dilutes the purpose of Christianity. Being salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16) necessitates being in situations of negativity and darkness.<\/p>\n
I’m not saying that you should perpetuate an emotionally and spiritually draining association; I’m just suggesting that Christians consider our purpose more fully. As somebody else said, “Be the change you want to see.”<\/p>\n
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, bu only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:29).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores Sometimes, I see posts where someone may say that they’re “done” with negative people in their lives.\u00a0 I suppose they mean that they will avoid people they disagree with or are simply disagreeable. The problem is, that’s impossible. “Negative people” are all around us. What else would we expect in a broken…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1704,1703],"class_list":["post-69144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-associations","tag-pessimism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/it-isnt-christian-like-to-publish-negative-things-about-the-coptic-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":0},"title":"It isn’t Christian-like to publish negative things about the Coptic church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: A question on the Coptic church\u00a0has your response being negative of the Coptic church and using Bible verses in the wrong context. That is not Christian-like at all. That verse in Peter stating everyone is a priest was only for the twelve disciples as they were the first twelve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/think-on-these-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":1},"title":"Think on These Things","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton You don't want to get in a pattern of negativity that slowly drowns your mind in depression. So, what can you do? Turn off the negative input for a while. This can be the constant negative news on TV and social media, or it can be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8474,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-there-a-problem-if-both-my-wife-and-i-have-the-same-blood-type\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":2},"title":"Is there a problem if both my wife and I have the same blood type?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am going to be married next month. I would like to know if is there any problem if a husband and wife's blood group are the same, as we are both A+. Answer: Blood is grouped into several types: A, B, O, and AB. These blood groups are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Preparation for a Lifetime"","block_context":{"text":"Preparation for a Lifetime","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/preparation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17517,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-keep-doing-right-when-others-react-badly\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":3},"title":"How do you keep doing right when others react badly?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 22, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I feel like I need some words of encouragement and counsel on a personal issue. Thank you in advance for taking the time to give me a scriptural response that I can apply to my personal life. May God bless you in your efforts. What I'm trying to do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-stay-positive-in-a-negative-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":4},"title":"How to Stay Positive in a Negative World","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh Fulford Christianity is both positive and negative. There are two gates: the wide and the narrow. To be saved, we must enter the narrow and avoid the wide (Matthew 7:13-14) There are two ways: the broad and the narrow. To be saved, we must walk in the narrow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/positive-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13187,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-shouldnt-be-so-negative\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":5},"title":"You shouldn’t be so negative","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 2, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I happened on to your site because I was searching a biblical question.\u00a0 I'm impressed that you want to follow the biblical pattern of the church, but you seemed to have missed one.\u00a0 Jesus didn't start off by being negative.\u00a0 He talked about who His father was and who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69144\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}