In your mind, it is unhelpful to confirm over and over again, negative things. Rather, reaffirm things that carry you to the next expression of your love for others. When I am thinking downward, I tend to feel downward, make downward decisions and so on. But, when I am thinking upward, I tend to feel upward, make upward decisions and so on.

This isn’t to say that my mind is never attacked from either flank without me becoming aware before it’s too late, because that certainly does happen. But, generally, my mind will find its most natural resting place over time. That is, thinking downward leads to more and greater downward thinking, over time. The catastrophe that becomes my thought life can’t arrive all at once because that’s not how thought patterns are constructed.

One downward thought leads to another downward thought, but, this time, greater and more severe. Like a hurricane gathering water and wind over the warm Pacific Ocean, so my thoughts pick up destructive speed. As one negative thought isn’t enough to survive on its own. It must have another greater negative thought to feed off of.

A single lie we tell ourself is never enough. It needs another lie to keep the suppression of our mind alive. That’s the elemental goal of evil. To destroy through compounding negativity. Grace cannot speak and live where hopelessness is thriving and hopelessness only needs to thrive incrementally. We don’t need the big bad wolf to blow our house down with one breath to be captivated by evil, we simply allow his breath power in our house of shingle by shingle.

Our thought life is the first and only line of defense against evil. In a way, we think, therefore we are. This is why upward thinking, even as a forced exercise, becomes so elemental to installing a growing type of hope and joy in the Christian’s life. As grace needs faith, upward thinking saves the day one thought at a time.

Upward thinking, in essence, is all about possibility and the search of anything that brings light into the world. It is considering the best in any and all situations, not being easily defeated, and, when defeated, not throwing the baby out with the bath water. This is all at the crux of the Christian life because our thoughts impact the way we speak and the choices we make.

Speech and decisions that either build us up to reflect Christ, or tear us down to reflect the world. This is why we must use any means necessary to build a thought life around positivity, even if, sometimes, some might call it blind optimism. We’re not tricking our mind, but we force it, through the habit of thought, to maintain a course that leads upward because where our mind is, there we will find our heart and our life.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬