Proverbs 18.14
“A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?”
This is the third time that Proverbs makes a statement about the relationship between the state of your spirit and the health of the body (see also 15.13 and 17.22). A positive attitude has a healthy effect on a person’s physical state, and a negative attitude has a deleterious effect on a person’s physical state. Therefore, Proverbs tells us, a broken spirit is a worse condition than physical sickness.
One of the most important things you do every day is “manage your spirit.” When I say manage your spirit, I mean what you choose to focus on and think about. What you choose to feed your spirit with. What you choose to believe and cultivate in your heart. One of the worst things you can do to yourself (and the people around you) is mismanage your spirit.
Your spirit is a two-edged sword. It can cut away life’s troubles and keep you focused on and grateful for the blessings you have in Christ, or it can wound your soul and leave you feeling discouraged and despondent. It all depends on what you choose to focus on and think about; what you choose to feed your spirit with.
The world is full of positive things and negative things. Indeed, in every situation you face there are positive and negative things. In response to the situations you experience, you choose what to focus on. Every day in every situation, you choose what to feed your spirit with. If you choose to focus on the negative, you will feel negative, and if you fixate on the negative long enough, you will crush your spirit.
A negative focus is a self-inflicted wound that cuts deep into your heart. It weakens you. A positive focus is an empowering mindset that gives you deep inner strength.
If you focus on the positive, you will feel positive. When I say “positive” I am referring to truth and wisdom. I am referring to attitudes and actions that are productive and helpful. I am referring to a Christ-centered, Spirit-directed mindset.
A positive focus does not ignore problems; rather, it confronts challenges with a solution-oriented mindset. It looks into the face of difficult situations and doesn’t flinch, because it knows God will provide strength, and it motivates you to do the work to respond with wisdom and courage. It refuses to BCD (blame, complain, defend) and chooses to respond with resilience.
Here is what Paul says in Philippians: “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)
What you think about is the heart of the matter. If you think about and fixate on negative things, you will wound your spirit, and a wounded spirit is more painful than a wounded body. If the spirit is wounded and hurting, it does not matter how healthy and strong your body might be. If you allow difficulty or adversity to gain victory over your spirit, the pain can be intolerable. If your spirit is ruled and directed by negativity and cynicism, it will crush you.
However, if your spirit is ruled and directed by God’s truth and wisdom, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, it will give you the resilience and energy to persevere through any challenge or difficulty. “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8.6)
What do you set your mind on? When you experience challenges and difficulties, where is your focus? When adversity strikes, do you feed your spirit with God’s truth and seek solutions and resilience, or do you fixate on the negative and get crushed by self-inflicted wounds?
A fundamental principle of E+R=O is: Don’t make a difficult situation worse by responding poorly. Difficulty and adversity is part of life in a fallen world. When it comes your way, don’t be surprised; be prepared. Trust God, focus on the truth of his Word, pray diligently, seek his wisdom, and do the work.
Nothing you do in life is as important as ruling your spirit.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3.14-17)
