The Law of Attraction

Good things come your way when you express and envision positive thoughts into the universe, and in the same way, negative thoughts attract negativity. Or at least that’s what is believed by some, a concept known as the Law of Attraction, which supposedly defines your ability to attract into your life what you focus on.

This was made famous through a series of literature throughout the years, perhaps most famously through Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. Later, a book and movie were made called The Secret, which was devoted to this very idea. The idea is so simple it almost makes you overthink it at times, but it’s exactly what you think it is: the energy you focus on is the energy you will attract. In a way, it’s the kind of concept I write about on this blog all the time - that what you think about deeply affects what you do in life. Life is often about perspective and mindset, but what about the whole universe part?

The first time someone shared the Law of Attraction with me, I thought it was intriguing, but I had an acceptable amount of skepticism. I was hesitant not because I thought it was all bad, but because I think that the credit is being misplaced. How could all of this be credited to the universe, as if the universe just wills things into existence for us? To me, it was an obvious expression of trying to say that God exists without saying his name. It’s a way of twisting him into a box of your liking. It is also because if such a law exists, it probably is connected to our faith and relationship to God, not in an abstract development of thought patterns. In fact, some of the Bible seems to hint at this kind of concept before human beings could place a name on it. For example:

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

So what does the Law of Attraction mean for Christians? The first thing is not to take verses out of context and develop them into a subset of theological applications. Our duty as Christians is to commit to the Lord and many times, God does reward us. However, that is not always true, which is why the Law of Attraction is not the full truth. Sometimes we seem to do everything right and our circumstances turn sour. Life can be very unfair. To use my own life as an example, I’ve envisioned things and they turned out step by step how I desired, but I’ve also had the opposite experience, where God clearly had a different life path for me. In both situations, I need to accept what happened, because who am I to think that I can will the universe into the future I want just by thinking positive thoughts? Who am I to act like a god?

The key is to leverage positive thinking in a Biblical way, and certainly focus on attracting the kind of energy you want in your life, but understand that self-help techniques like these can be deceiving. The real truth is found in God and God alone. Love God, and He will ultimately attract the life that is best for you.