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,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","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_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":0},"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":92600,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-positive-about-the-negative\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":1},"title":"The Positive About the Negative","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lee Moses Many a faithful Gospel preacher has been chided for being \"too negative\" in his preaching. True, a preacher can certainly be overly negative, robbing Christians of the joy that is rightfully theirs by blasting the congregation from the pulpit every Lord's Day, condemning them for sins they\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":88692,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/think-on-these-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":2},"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":34643,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-burning-sage-release-negative-energy\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":3},"title":"Does burning sage release negative energy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello. Is it a sin to burn sage to get rid of negative energy? I have heard that it has been used for this purpose and is considered a \"holy herb\" in some Christian churches but even though they say it has been used for thousands of years it\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":29402,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/negativism\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":4},"title":"Negativism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Floyd Chappelear Sentry Magazine, December 2002 I have always sought to write so as to be understood.\u00a0My friend James Needham, however, frequently published his stated desire to write so clearly that one cannot be misunderstood. I didn't always appreciate the wisdom of the advice but did admire its clarity.\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\/2021\/01\/Tearing_Down_Theatre_1946-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":50310,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-stay-positive-in-a-negative-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":69144,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_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}]}}