Staying Positive by Avoiding the Enemy of Goodness in your Life

Mike Hosey, An Elder

There is a very old saying that was popularized by the very famous 18th century philosopher, Voltaire, who was not a follower of Christ by any orthodox measure, and who frequently attacked the core doctrines of the church of his day. Although he did not pen the words, he did magnify their usage. In our day, the quote is rendered this way: “The good is the enemy of the great.” In today’s world many people take that quote to mean that because we settle for the good, we often miss the opportunities to become great. Perhaps there is truth in that. But the quote’s original construction has far more truth, and is far more tragically realized than the common understanding of its modern mutation. Its original construction was rendered by Voltaire this way: “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Shakespeare captured the idea in English fully, when in King Lear, he wrote, “striving to better, oft we mar what's well." There are far too many people, who stretching themselves and every resource they have, to achieve the better car, or the better woman, or the better man, or the better house, or the great life, lose the joys of the truly great blessings they already have. It is often through this lie that people, families, churches, communities, or nations are destroyed. Satan will use this lie mercilessly. When the Bible speaks of lust, it speaks of a strong desire or longing. Lust does not solely refer to a fleshly sexual appetite. It can refer to any evil desire or appetite that exceeds Godly purpose. Consider that the people who lust for blood, or money, are not actually sexually aroused by those things. To give into lust is to bring upon oneself situations in which staying positive becomes profoundly difficult (James 1:14-15). And this is precisely why Satan uses such a lie that draws upon your lust. He does not want you to have a positive mindset, and he intends to keep you ineffective for Christ. It is terribly difficult to be effective at anything when one is negative.

In order to stay positive, it is essential to realize Solomon’s truth in Ecclesiastes 6:9, where he tells us that what we see is far better than a wandering appetite. The truth is that your wandering fleshly appetite will never be sated. The devil knows this, and he counts on it. So be thankful, and like Paul, learn to be content (Philippians 4:11-13), and it will be much easier to stay positive, and thereby, stay effective as a follower of Christ.