At Sunday service pastor talked about negative and positive people and how Satan uses his influence to affect our situations. He talked about the occasional depressed times that everyone on this earth has. Not clinical depression, but just feeling low and blue and seeing the cup as 1/2 full. Negativity is selfish--it involved the "I" word. We become frustrated because of unrealistic goals that we set for ourselves and others. We say that others are not living up to our expectations and that's why things are going bad for us. When we give in and spend time dwelling on being persecuted, unloved, unappreciated and blaming others for our situation we are participating in depraved thinking,
He said that research shows that we all do "self talk" all throughout the day. Studies show that we self-talk at about 400 words a MINUTE! Is our self-talk negative or positive? I know that a lot of my self-talk is negative. I began listening to what I say to myself. I call myself stupid, dummy, dimwit and even worse words--sometimes I say them out loud where Phil can hear me or even when I am alone. I never realized that I even did that until he talked about it on Sunday. These are words that my dad used to say to me. What a blessing Sunday service was.....it made me aware of this. I will replace the negative talk with things like: I am valuable, Jesus died to make me His child. I can do this with the Lord's help.
If we practice being positive, over and over, we will get good at it, just like with anything else that you practice at. We have to train our subconscious to think differently. WE have to work at it. Anything worth having is worth working at. If we want a beautiful flower garden, don't we have to plant, water, fertilize, prune and pull weeds? If we want a delicious dinner, don't we have to make a list, shop, prepare, cook, plate it and serve? How much more important is it to spend time in the Word of God and in prayer with Him? Sometimes retraining our subconscious takes a long time because we have spent a long time putting in the negative stuff--just think of how much negative stuff we see and hear in a day--what about what we watch on television or listen to on the radio. Every bit of info is stored in our subconscious just like on a computer hard drive. I need to delete the negative things and rewrite with positive. I want to retrain my subconscious to automatically think of something positive in each situation. So I will begin to practice, practice, practice!
He said that research shows that we all do "self talk" all throughout the day. Studies show that we self-talk at about 400 words a MINUTE! Is our self-talk negative or positive? I know that a lot of my self-talk is negative. I began listening to what I say to myself. I call myself stupid, dummy, dimwit and even worse words--sometimes I say them out loud where Phil can hear me or even when I am alone. I never realized that I even did that until he talked about it on Sunday. These are words that my dad used to say to me. What a blessing Sunday service was.....it made me aware of this. I will replace the negative talk with things like: I am valuable, Jesus died to make me His child. I can do this with the Lord's help.
If we practice being positive, over and over, we will get good at it, just like with anything else that you practice at. We have to train our subconscious to think differently. WE have to work at it. Anything worth having is worth working at. If we want a beautiful flower garden, don't we have to plant, water, fertilize, prune and pull weeds? If we want a delicious dinner, don't we have to make a list, shop, prepare, cook, plate it and serve? How much more important is it to spend time in the Word of God and in prayer with Him? Sometimes retraining our subconscious takes a long time because we have spent a long time putting in the negative stuff--just think of how much negative stuff we see and hear in a day--what about what we watch on television or listen to on the radio. Every bit of info is stored in our subconscious just like on a computer hard drive. I need to delete the negative things and rewrite with positive. I want to retrain my subconscious to automatically think of something positive in each situation. So I will begin to practice, practice, practice!
Lord, Jesus, risen Saviour of my soul, give me a strong desire to fill my life with Your Word so that I can reprogram my mind to the positive. Help me keep my eyes on You.
1 comment:
The reality of us being full of our self-stuff is huge. When we accept Christ, we die to self; that means anything about the self gets dumped and everything becomes about Jesus. Talk about liberating! No more need to be self-conscious or have self-esteem or be self-serving. Whew! What a relief!
Great insights and encouragement, Cathee.
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