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Hi All,

I have a quick question that I'm hoping people could help me out with. For those of you that are familiar with the Law of Attraction, how would you say it relates to Christianity or is this something that we as Christians should avoid completely?

Reason for asking is because I just viewed a movie called "the secret" and it had some interesting principles and views. It claims that we can control our life with our thoughts...I know this might have some validity...for example, if one truly makes an effort to focus on positive thoughts, the assumption is that positive actions or outcomes would take place - right?

Sorry for rambling on, just curious about others thoughts on this subject.


Thanks.

I'm not sure quite how to put this. If you look in the mirror, do you have "Sucker" tatooed on your forehead?

What I've seen the whole thing is an appeal to your greed to simply buy a book, pay for a seminar and so on, and just have all the money or anything else you want flow into your life.

What I've seen it bears a lot of common things with the Word of Faith people.

As far as I can tell, it's one more way to suck people into the New Age religion. You end up believing in all these forces and powers and believe you can control them to do what you want and of course the normal things, like material wealth is the big goal.

I'd run away.

Marv

Hey Marv,

Thanks for the reply. I agree with you and the only reason I asked is because like you said, there are a lot of things that seem to relate to what the word of God says...like when the word of God says - whatso ever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he...something along those lines, it just brings questions to my mind...anyways, like I said, I agree that this smells "fishy" and shoule probably be avoided, I just thought I'd ask what other peoples opinions were.

Also, I'm sure many people have heard preachers speak on proclaiming wealth, prosperity, health, etc...and say that if you pray and ask God and believe that you will recieve it, you will...so my question is this - doesn't this sound very similar to what the law of attraction states with the exception of "energy" and "vibration" and such? This might be common sense but as Christians, how important is it to make a daily effort to focus on positive thoughts versus the negative?

I'm asking because the movie "The Secret" seems to have a lot principles that would be benificial for one to implement in their life....Sorry if this doesn't make sense, I"m just kind of writing as things come to mind...Thanks

501:

I think you're right that there are tons of things that seem to relate to Christian beliefs. And it's our job as Christians to discern which of these things are helpful and which aren't.

I don't think the 'Secret' is one of the helpful ones. What's important about Christianity is not practicality (which principles can I apply to my life) but Christ. And you'll have a hard time applying Him to your life!

So I think the helpful things are those that help point us to Jesus Christ rather than abstract principles, however beneficial they may seem. For example, you asked how important it is to focus on the positive rather than the negative. While good cheer is usually a good thing, sometimes only 'thinking positive' leads to ignoring the realities of life--which is sadly filled with evils that cannot be wished away. And this ignorance can be horribly damaging, especially to Christians who are taught only to look at suffering as a good thing (that it happens for some unseen good) and thus do not feel permitted to simply suffer. What we often find is that in the context of any story, general principles are often threatened (like when evil people prosper while innocents die every day) and are thus of little comfort or value to those who are suffering.

I agree with Marv--I'd stay away from that stuff.

Brad

Well, you are correct that it sounds very similar in many ways to the name it and claim it preachers. Whether cloaked as christianity or as something else it is very attractive to many that they can control God and their future simply with the power of their thoughts or prayers.

Like most things, there is an element of truth to it.

Let's say there are two people married. One couple thinks the best of their spouse, when he or she says something they put the best understanding of what is being said and do not take offense because of real or imagined insults. They keep their thoughts positive and hold the other in high esteem.

They will have a good, happy marriage.

Take a similar couple same things said but everytime things are not said perfectly they take offense. They read into the words of the other hurts and insults and offenses. They will, through nothing but the power of their thinking, be unhappy rivals doomed to an unhappy marriage or likely divorce.

So yes, their thoughts have a great influence on their life.

But their thoughts don't have a direct influence on say material wealth. The couple who isn't spending their time fighting but is supportive and helpful to each other is probably more likely to be successful because they aren't spending their time and effort fighting. But they can just as easily as the first couple have their life savings in the path of a hurricane or some such.

Happy people tend to be healthier too, but it is not absolute.

The whole part that is so strange to me is that we are supposedly christians, but we are supposed to so much desire worldly things that those are what we spend all our time channeling or praying. I mean how important is it really going to be in 100,000 years or so if you got a new SUV? We're supposed to seek first the kingdom of God, but I don't think that means we find the kingdom of God first so we can get all kinds of goodies.

I come back to the Apostles, really the richest people on Earth, but in worldly terms, very poor, most of them even had their very lives taken from them. I have real problems thinking of Paul spending his prayer time trying to get a ranch in Montana. Maybe it's just me, I sometimes lack imagination.

Marv and Brad,

Thanks for your responses. I agree with both of you and found both replies helpful.

God Bless.

Proverbs 23 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

Proverbs 23

1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

2And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

3Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

Hello brothers and sisters,

I am new to this forum, but in reading this posting felt moved to share my feelings on the topic. I apologize in advance for the lack of brevity here, but the words just kept flowing! LOL! Here we go ...

From the first time I watched the movie, I found it to be VERY Christian-based, although they are careful not throw that aspect in your face because unfortunately a lot of people are turned off when you start talking about God, so they present the source as "The Universe" or your "Higher Self". It is obvious to me (as it would be to anyone who believed in God) it is all about GOD being our unlimited source for joy, prosperity, health and happiness.

The Law of Attraction is an age-old concept that has been around for thousands of years and is based on the scientific fact that "ENERGY ATTRACTS LIKE ENERGY" Our thoughts ARE ENERGY ... They emit a measurable frequency and if we align our thoughts with "The Universe" (for me that means GOD) -- By way of feeling good and feeling grateful and focusing on the good we want to come into our lives -- we are drawing those things to us in a powerful way. The LOA works through utilizing the power within the UNIVERSAL aspect of God. Our relationship with Jesus is the PERSONAL aspect of God.

The Secret is awakening people to the UNIVERSAL aspect of God, which is a real, true and glorious thing. As long as we as Christians continue to honor the PERSONAL aspects of God (our relationship with Jesus Christ), The LOA can absolutely empower people .... And when used to cultivate and spread goodness, we CAN change the world!

The "teachers" in the movie (which include men of God AND men of science) teach that GRATITUDE is the way to bring more into one's life -- Being thankful for what you currently have is the surest way to bring more good into your life! When you feel gratitude, it is naturally directed at "something bigger than ourselves" ... As Christians, for us it is certainly GOD!!! In fact, I imagine it would be pretty difficult for an atheist to utilize this primary key to the LOA ... "Who" would they FEEL gratitude towards? An impersonal "universal force"?

I can testify to the truth of this with total conviction and joy! Since watching "The Secret" I have consciously focused on feeling gratitude for the every good thing that exists in my life RIGHT NOW ... As a result, MORE good things are flowing to me ... love, joy, health and prosperity are mine and I thank God for every single thing.

The Law of Attraction is a physical law in our universe, just as gravity is a
law. It works and is real because it is a physical law that permeates the
universe ... The universe created by GOD's thoughts! We were created in the image and likeness of GOD with FREE WILL to direct our thoughts and use the GOD-GIVEN POWER of our minds to change our lives and attract to us EVERYTHING WE WANT!!!

Let me interject here a concept that may be foreign to a lot of Christians ... Being rich is not "unspiritual" or "bad" or "evil". Aspiring to be wealthy is a wonderful thing and God wants us all to live abundant lives ... in all areas. Too often, Christians are taught that material wealth should not be strived for, when the truth is that wealth is what allows us to obtain the tools and means by which we can learn, grow and expand our lives, and in turn HELP OTHERS do the same.

Simply put, there are 2 paths to wealth: A Constructive/Creative path and a Destructive/Competitive path. What differentiates between the two is the individual's INTENT. Constructive wealth is acquired by utilizing the creative power we posess as part of our God-nature/divinity and destrutive wealth is acquired through a competitive, selfish INTENT. Wealth can be had by both means, but one brings light to humanity and the other brings darkness.

God does not expect, nor did He intend for us to live our lives by default; powerless ... suffering in poverty and sickness and depression ... Meekly hoping He will intervene and make us happy. WE are responsible for making ourselves happy ... WE have the power ... God GAVE us that power! We can CHOOSE to be, do or have anything we want and if it is good and true and pure, these thoughts will be aligned with God's universal energy and they will be manifested. It is an amazing GIFT and anyone would be foolish to toss it aside.

Yes, the movie tells viewers that WE are the creators of our lives through the thoughts and feelings we focus on the most. I do not believe this contradicts the Bible in any way! God gave us FREE WILL to think and feel as we like ... We can think positive thoughts and create a positive, loving, joyful reality or we can think negative thoughts and create a reality filled with pain, struggle and poverty. The Bible tells us to "Ask and you shall receive" (THIS is the basis of the Law of Attraction and The Secret) ... The Bible gives us the 3-step process required to receive every good thing we desire: 1. Ask (pray) 2. Believe (have faith) and 3. Receive (claim it as already yours because IT DOES EXIST NOW IN THE INVISIBLE).

Yes, this process mirrors the Word of Faith movement, but what perhaps the WOF movement fails to teach Christians is the scientific basis and the crucial role that FEELINGS and GRATITUDE play in using the LOA successfully.

Admittedly there are a few statements in the movie that I disagree with, but I am free to take away from the film what works for me, what resonates in my soul (as a Christian) and leave the rest. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

Satan would LOVE for Christians to igonore the Universal aspect of God and the LOA because then we are made in effect powerless, while Satan and his demons are thoroughly versed in using the LOA and can influence ungodly individuals to use it to bring more darkness into the world. I pray Christians will come to a greater awareness of the power of the LOA and utilize it, because in fact Christians are better prepared than anyone to reap the benefits of its practice, because we are already aligned with God (the PERSONAL aspect of Him) in thought and feeling.

I feel strongly that Christians today desperately need to utilize the law of attraction and their own inner GOD-GIVEN abilities to manifest change in their lives and on this planet rather than sitting meekly on the sidelines focusing on their personal relationship with Jesus but ignoring (or worse, denying) the universal aspects of God ... Thereby living in half-truth and not utilizing the [universal] power of God within themselves to create abundant, joyful and loving lives for ourselves and subsequently bring positive change to those we love and the world as a whole!

Bottom line is that the movie changed my life in a powerful way ... It brought me closer to God because it reminds me daily that HE is the source of all the good in my life and it is HIS PLEASURE to give me every desire of my heart. All I have to do is ASK, BELIEVE and RECEIVE. I am SO HAPPY now! All the time!! I feel joyful, happy, loving and abundant ... What better witness to the power and love of God could there be than to live a loving, joyful, abundant life while giving all the glory to GOD in heartfelt gratitude???

God wants His children to learn and grasp the understanding of who we truly are ... Heirs to the throne ... And that we DO have the power within us to create abundant happy lives and be the best we can be so that we become empowered to contribute more to this world and be a witness to God's love and the joy and abundance that awaits those willing to align their thoughts with the creator ... GOD!

Praise God and Thank YOU for taking the time to read this!!!

In love and joy,
Sherry

In science, I can think of opposites attracting. Like in magnetism or in electricity. But I can't think of like energies attracting. Do you have examples of that?

There is gravity but that is just mass attracting mass, it doesn't matter if the object are like or unlike, only that they have mass.

There are things like suface tension on liquids but that isn't really like attracting like.

In biology generally the female attracts the male or vice versa.

I'm just trying to think of where this universal law of science is because I thought I had a lot of science education and it was never mentioned as a law.

So on what science do you base this?

Thank you, Sherry, for your wonderful and insightful post. I am a Christian as well and 'The Secret" has found its way into my life TWICE now through two people I esteem as highly as anyone in my life: my mother and my best friend [both Christians, though my friend wouldn't descibe himself as such necessarily].

Because Sherry put it so well, I can only reiterate much of what she said.

I think it is patently obvious that our habitual ways of thinking and feeling are what create our lives and that we have the God-given [and created] free will to newly guide ourselves and our thoughts towards more joyful things and orientations.

I can certainly understand how some Christians would be strongly resistant to these ideas, but they ARE in the Bible. To quote from an article:

"Genesis

The book of Genesis tells a great story that proves the law of attraction. Joseph was a young farm boy when he got a dream of being a great King. Of all of Jacobs kids, Joseph was the least likely to become King.

He was the youngest of the family. He had no leadership skills. Even his father and brothers couldn't see Joseph being a King.

But none of that made a shred of difference because Joseph held the thought of becoming a great leader in his mind so persistently it eventually came to be. Although he suffered numerous setbacks, he held firm to his belief, he held onto that dream until he became the great leader he saw in his mind.

That is the law of attraction in action.

The law of attraction doesn't only work on bring us good. Anything we give our energized thoughts to, and by energized we are specifically meaning emotionalized thoughts, thoughts mixed with strong emotions like excitement, love, fear, anxiety, these will super-charge thought energy and set the law of attraction in motion.

A clear example of this can be seen in Job 3:25 when he said, "Because a dreadful thing I have dreaded, it has come upon me. And what I have been scared of comes to me."

A Christian view

Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. In one of his famous sermons Jesus directed his followers to ask for what they want with the faith and belief that they already had it. In fact he said anything that you ask for in a spirit of faith and belief you would get.

Again, this is the law of attraction in action.

A double edge sword

Like the law of electricity, the law of attraction is a double edge sword. It can be used for success or failure. Electricity can light up a city and provide much needed energy, or it can snuff out life. Everything is dependent on how we conform to it's principles of use.

Did God design electricity? Did he put it in place for our use? Can it be used for a good outcome or a bad one? Yes, Yes and Yes! Gravity is a natural law. Yet if you don't use it as it was intended you could fall off a building or a cliff to a disastrous end. However God's intent was for it to serve us. So it is with the law of attraction.

It's interesting to see nature at work. When a seed is placed in the soil it doesn't contain everything it needs to grow and flourish. But by the law of attraction it draws to itself water, minerals and all else it needs to blossom. This is the wonder and beauty of this amazing law.

We as humans have a great ability no other life on earth has. The ability to think. A mind with free will. Yet another gift of God.

You have the power to design your life and the free will to design it as you wish. Just as God intended. What we must all realize is that the law of attraction will not cease to exist simply because we do not believe in it, or we refuse to utilize it. It has always been there and will always be.

Our only intelligent option is to begin applying it for our growth and betterment. Why not use the law of attraction to be a better Christian? Why not tap into this powerful law of nature to praise it's creator? This truly is the only intelligent option."

link removed-Marv, Moderator

Thank you.

8 April 2007 / 20 Nisan 5767

Hi Marv,

I agree with your initial reaction to this "Secret" way in which the Devil is trying to deceive innocent people into following him. I see it as extremely dangerous and I also agree that God's people need to stay away from it.

It may sound good, but "good" doesn't mean it is of God, and you have to look at who is behind it. Just because they use the name of Jesus Christ to advance their agenda, does not mean they are following the "true" Christ. And when you consider that Ms. Oprah Winfrey is a major promoter of their message and products, should be even more reason for concern.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (KJV) "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Amen!


True Light

Understand my concern is that a lot of the "buzz" about the so called law of attraction is commercial in nature. It's like teasers just designed to sign people up for programs and sell books.

And I've asked for examples of this so called universal law.

Electricity was mentioned in the last post. Electricity is a flow of electrons from an area of a lot of electrons to one with fewer. The difference is the voltage which acts somewhat like pressure would on a liquid.

So electricity is an example of unlike attracting unlike.

Magnetism would be the same way. It's the south pole of your magnet that points towards the north pole of the earth. Try and force two of the same poles together from two magnets and it's very difficult, but unlike poles attract.

Now we get into people. And it becomes another form of the so called prosperity gospel. Faith is turned into a euphemism for positive thinking. Can one force some instances in the Bible into appearing to be that way? Sure. But a law doesn't just seem to work once in awhile.

In the end, it ends up focused on relatively unimportant worldly things. Money is a big one. But it can be others. Now what are we told to do. Focus our thoughts on it and the energy of our thoughts will attract it. Well, what we are supposed to focus on is God, and we are told not to be too concerned about worldly things.

If we spend our time honoring money with our focus and our thoughts, hasn't money become our god?

In Ecclesiates, we are told both times of plenty and times of shortage are from God, but now I'm supposed to throw that out because if I don't have a lot it's because I haven't focused my thoughts properly?

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh, blessed be the name of the Lord.

Marv I have learned that there are so many truths that both religion and science have brought to the table but both have played against one another to afraid to set down and talk about our Father and all he has created. Science would not be science with out God, but everyday we try to separate his principles from his will. You ask how does the law of attraction play out in science. I will give you one that humans play out everyday. Ever since we where kids we looked for those who where like us. If you remember when you started junior high you found yourself being attracted to those that where like you. This was more evident when we move into the high school arena. We ate, sat, played, and hung out with those that where like minded. This is one of the same principles the secret speaks of. If you are a criminal you will attract those with the same mind set. If you are rich you will attract those who are rich and there resources. One of the last things and most profound keys to understanding our thoughts is this. Everything that you see and touch that man has created came from a thought that he or she had received from the heavenly place of God . They had to visualize it before they could bring it from the spiritual to the physical. A designer most see the design before he can crated it and once he has seen it and began to draw it out. Everything that is needed for the design will began to be attracted to it. Faith is the substance of things hope for the evidence of things not seen. All Things in God and through Christ not self.

Real quick everyone I don't think any of us should sign up for classes. We should receive what is for us and let the Holy Spirit teach us how to use this for advancing the kingdom of God..

Michael

I noticed particularly in high school that I was attracted to people who were different than me. We called them girls.