You probably know people who are always negative. You see it, and others see it—but the negative person doesn’t seem to have a clue. Here are some reasons why that happens:
- They always believe they have a cause. In fact, they’re always looking for a cause. They see their role as to correct others, and they see it as a godly calling.
- What others see as negative, they see as standing up for right. And, they see that apparently, no one else is willing to stand with them—so they stand alone in hyper-spiritualized pride.
- They’ve sometimes recognized a real issue. That is, they might well see a problem area that someone needs to address—which validates their concerns. It’s just that they always point out the problem but choose not to be part of the solution.
- They seldom have others who speak into their lives. Nobody holds them accountable for anything (which usually means they have other areas of their lives in need of improvement as well). They’re either loners, or they hang out with other negative people.
- They usually find an audience to hear their complaints. And, they’re not worried about finding a bunch of listeners; give them just one or two people willing to hear them, and they’ll walk through that open door. One listener is all you need to confirm you’re right.
- They’re not that sensitive to the Word and the Holy Spirit. My experience is that the most negative people I know spend little time in Bible study and prayer. They’ll quote the Bible when they need to, but they don’t regularly turn to it for guidance.
- Few people are willing to point out their negativism. Frankly, people just get tired of them and choose not to invest in trying to help them. The silence of others then gives the negative person more permission to press on.
- They’re sometimes not saved—and unsaved people don’t readily recognize their sinfulness. Even Jesus had a fake among His twelve disciples, and we’ll have them, too—even, sometimes, among leadership. In those cases, their negativity is a symptom of their lostness.
What would you add to this list?
This article originally appeared here.
