Don't Believe Everything You Think To Be Truth!

Do you find yourself filled with negative thoughts about yourself? By the end of the day are you feeling depressed, lonely, anxious and irritated? I have those days and when I am mindful of what is going on internally for me, it usually starts with my self-talk, my thoughts, which in turn creates all kinds of negative feelings. Then I act on those feelings and the vicious spiraling circle downward begins. And in the end I feel defeated.

Our thoughts and beliefs shape who we are and our life. What we think about all day long, over long periods of time, eventually enters our heart as a belief and eventually it is who we become. Our thoughts and the words we speak create our experiences, it is what we act on. If I believe I can not do anything right and I am not good enough, then that is what I will find in my world. I will see all my mistakes and believe I do not deserve goodness and in turn that will only reinforce my belief about myself. If, instead I believe everybody makes mistakes, nobody is perfect and I am deserving of goodness, I will see myself as human and worthy. It is our rigid beliefs about how life should be lived that trips us up. We become stuck, fearful, and anxious and this keeps us from moving forward in life or we act on those beliefs and things do not turn out so well for us.

Our past does not have to continue to have power over us. We can begin to be free in this moment if we start to look to God and what He believes about us. Stop for a moment - what are you thinking right now? If it is true that your thoughts shape who you are and your life, would you want what you are thinking right now to become true for you?

Right now you have the power to change your future. What you choose to think on right now, in this moment, will create what the next moment will be like and have an impact on your future. It will shape the experiences of all your tomorrows.

Only you can change your thoughts and beliefs and the only way for that to happen is to surrender your own thoughts and replace them with God's truth. You need to be mindful of what you are thinking. Is it negative or positive? Is it true? Does it line up with what God believes about you? Don't believe everything you believe to be truth!

So first we have to be willing to change and then decide in this moment to make that change. And the way we do that is to start changing our self-talk. We need to tell ourselves what God believes about us. And positive affirmations are a way to help us with that. Affirmations are positive; they are a proactive way to change our beliefs about ourselves. God's word tells us: "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

So below are some positive affirmations to get you going; to help you start believing what God believes about you! Write them on 3 x 5 cards and carry them around with you and when you catch yourself engaging in negative self-talk read the affirmations. When you wake up in the morning read the affirmations and when you lie down at night read the affirmations. Make it a habit to read them over and over again. They will enter your heart and then watch the change happen! You will see yourself as God sees you!

Affirmations
1) I am perfect and complete in Christ
2) I am complete, delivered, completely forgiven (Col 1&2)
3) I am a beautiful person inside and out
4) I am doing the best I can in this moment and that is good enough!
5) God loves me
6) I love who I am
7) These are just thoughts they're fading away
8) I'm okay the way I am
9) I am a unique and creative person
10) I deserve the good things in life as much as anyone
11) I am worthy of the respect of others
12) I can continue to make progress one step at a time
13) It's okay to simply be me
14) I deserve to have my feelings and needs taken care of as much as anyone else
15) There are a lot of good qualities I have that I believe in

"For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well" (Psalm 139:13, 14 NASB).
Written by Patty B.