Thriveist Mentality



“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13  



Thriveist is a word I made up so don’t look for it in your dictionary. For me a thriveist mentality is the polar opposite of a survivalist mentality. I have watched and listened and learned much this past year from individuals who fell into one of two camps. The first were those with a survivalist mentality, those who lived mostly in fear while the other camp was made up of those who chose to have a thriveist mentality motivated by their faith in God.

Fear is a great tool of the enemy because when a person becomes fearful it is pretty easy to control them compared to a person of faith who has placed their hope and trust in God. What if God’s purpose behind this pandemic isn’t for us to survive at all but to prepare us to thrive? What if the reason we have all been allowed to go through this global pandemic was so that we would learn to thrive! Think about it for a moment today. A survivalist mentality is sad in so many ways because it promotes an ideology of loss. Someone who is just trying to survive isn’t focused on any quality of life, they are just trying to stay alive. With every second that passes for the survivalist, that is time lost that can never be recovered. The lie of the enemy that so many have bought into during this pandemic is that we will get together, “some day” when none of us is promised tomorrow. It is impossible to make up for lost time. Once it’s gone it’s gone.

I can promise you this today, loved one, God’s heart for you and I isn’t that we would just survive this global pandemic but that we would come out the other side refined, more in tune and touch with Him on a day to day basis. God’s desire is that we thrive as we live in His plan and purpose for our lives which will be manifested in a deeper love and devotion to the world at large as well as those we love. There is no question about it, God wants us to thrive as we go forward from the Coronavirus.  

You might be thinking how do I know this is God’s heart, His will for our lives that we thrive? The answers pretty easy to find as it’s in His Word. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” In Jesus its always upward and onward! Just consider what Paul writes in Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Jesus for sure doesn’t have the thought, “survive” in His mind as He works in our lives. It’s very clear God wants us to thrive! 

I read a great quote this week that said, “Self satisfaction is the death of progress.” Often times in life we really do settle for so much less than what the Lord has for us. Job pointed this out when he said, “He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number” (Job 9:10). If there is one lesson we have learned from this global pandemic it’s that our fears tend to immobilize us, whereas our faith in God empowers and emboldens us. Live in fear and your focus becomes survival. Live and walk by faith and you will flourish and thrive! It’s no secret, for the follower of Jesus our best days are always in front of us.

There is an old saying that has come to mind more than once since the Coronavirus virus hit, “when you are going through hell, keep going.” That was a good word at the beginning of this pandemic and its still a great word for today! Keep going, keep growing and never forget that the best is still yet to be if your life is hidden in Christ Jesus! Today is the day to thrive!


“But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

1 Corinthians 2:9

I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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