8“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
Philippians 4:8 NLT
Have you ever paid attention to your internal dialogue? You know what you are saying about yourself that no one but you and God can hear?
When you look in the mirror do you think to yourself, “Wow, I look good!” Or do you focus on your so-called “imperfections” and shame yourself for not looking flawless? Do you end your work day feeling confident about the things you’ve accomplished, or do you relive all the mistakes and mishaps? Do you meet someone new and tell yourself you are excited to see what may come of it, or do you convince yourself that that person would never be interested in getting to know you? When you mess up, do you acknowledge it, receive forgiveness and move forward? Or do you tell yourself you are awful and just good enough?
We are constantly affirming who we are in our daily thinking. Our thoughts frame how we relate to God, how we view ourselves, and shapes our perspectives and attitudes about the world around us.
You know, name-calling is a practice that should be avoided in any relationship. If a spouse constantly calls their partner names like “stupid,” “ugly,” “not good enough,” “failure,” or “idiot”, that behavior would be categorized as verbal abuse. If someone always verbally demeans their friends, we wouldn’t call them a good friend in return. In fact, we wouldn’t call them a friend at all!
It took me a long time to realize that I was my own worst enemy in my thinking. My negative thinking about myself in my twenties was just as toxic to my soul as name-calling and verbal attacking is in any relationship. By God’s kindness, the Holy Spirit began to show me just how much of a bully I was to myself in my thinking and over time helped change the conversation going on in my mind about who God is, how He sees me, and what I am capable of in Him.
Starting today, you can begin addressing and eliminating negative thinking that contradicts who God made you to be. Positive thinking doesn’t mean we ignore our shortcomings and turn a blind eye to our weaknesses. We can be honest with ourselves, but we can also always be kind. When we begin to lovingly speak God’s truth to ourselves, we flourish under the nourishment of His Word, displaying in our actions that we understand our worth and are committed to letting the brilliance of Christ shine in us and through us.