What About Self-Talk!

What are some of the things that go through your mind when you are in a moment of being quiet and no one else is around, or even when you are around other people?

Are they thoughts that uplift and encourage, or are they depressing and sad? Do these thoughts speak the language of love, comfort, health and a fulfilling life, or do they speak the language of criticism, hopelessness and despair?

Do you see yourself winning in life … or struggling to the point of failure?

Where do you think these thoughts come from?

Answering these questions aren’t always easy. They challenge us to be vulnerable and transparent.

To face the issue for what it is.

For some people, these thoughts are not just holding them back and keeping them bound to a limited way of thinking, but some are being tormented in their minds. They want so badly to break free, but don’t know how.

What we believe in our hearts plays a huge part in what we think about and ultimately what we experience in our lives. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. These thoughts are reflections of what we truly believe in our hearts about ourselves.

We call this self-talk!

Now, these thoughts didn’t just come from out of nowhere. They come as a result of tragic and traumatic experiences, hurts, and disappointments and more. When life happens to us in negative ways, they leave scars, wounds, and messages on our minds and emotions. They paint ugly and not so nice pictures and images on our hearts, and unfortunately, without realizing it, we embrace them as truth.

I dealt with negative self-talk for years, and that was because I had a very low and poor image of myself due to past experiences and being “the victim.” I would say all the right things you would say as a believer around others. Saying all the right things was easy when you were in an environment that was conducive to speaking life. But did I really believe what I was saying with my mouth?

When I got quiet, that old self talk would rise up again. “You are this and you are not that. What makes you think that this is going to work? You don’t look like them. Don’t you wish you did? When are you going to stop making the same stupid decisions over and over again? You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

These were just some of the thoughts that would rise from within my heart. I realized this was how I really saw myself. My heart was wounded deeply for so many years. Wounds that stemmed from rejection, self-hatred, fear, and on and on it went. If I had not allowed the Holy Spirit to come in and fully persuade my heart of what God’s Word says about me, my heart would still be in a mess.

But I have great news for us!

There is hope! God has provided healing and restoration for our hearts, and we don’t have to go through this process alone. Not only does our Father God know what we have been through or may be going through now, but He also knows how to rescue us from whatever it may be.

We can use our God-given authority to resist and pull down every stronghold, to cast down every imagination and every high thing that would come against us. This include the world’s opinions, our own opinions, the views of religion, and even words from our families. If these thoughts are not in line with the truth about Jesus, then we need to dismiss them. Christ is our identity. That is who we are, regardless of how we feel about it or what others say.

Since I have come to a place in my life where I am able to spend more time with the Father, I have awakened more to who He is and who I am. He has really brought me a long way in my heart and way of thinking. I can honestly say that I have not arrived in my self-talk as being completely the way it should be, but it is a long way from where it was. I rarely have moments of negative self-talk now. And I am in quiet mode more now than I have been in years.

Why?

Because I know who God truly is and that His thoughts toward me are always good and not evil. My heart is secure in His love for me. I also keep the atmosphere set on Jesus through prayer time, worship, meditating on His word, journaling, reading books, etc.

Beloved, when we understand our relationship with our Father, we become established in our hearts. However, that does not mean we won’t be hit in our minds with lies. Negative thoughts will try to assail all of us, because deception is the enemy’s only weapon against us. But we do not have to sign for it when he comes knocking. We can guard our hearts with all diligence.