Thinking about
our thinking.
So, not too long ago
my wife told me I was too grumpy all the time and she was right. Been working through a lot of Bible reading
plans on the You Version app on my phone.
Day 3 of this one called Get out of Your Head though just got my
attention and I think we all need it so I’m going to share part of it with
you.
“Learning to capture
our thoughts matters. Because how we
think shapes how we live.
Lies such as I’m
helpless, I’m worthless, I’m unlovable, shape our thinking, our emotions, and
the way we respond to the world around us.
They trap us in their cycle of distraction and distortion and pain,
preventing us from recognizing the truth we should believe. Most detrimentally, they change how we view
God. Every lie we buy into about
ourselves is rooted in what we believe about God.
Let’s say I tend to
feel worthless and invisible. And let’s
say I read Ephesians 1 and learn that God because He deeply loves me, chooses me,
and adopts me. Even if I don’t overtly
deny the validity of that premise, I still doubt it is true for me. I nod at the truth, but I never fully absorb
it and let it shape my identity.
Then let’s say I am
married to a spouse who is typically distracted with work. I don’t feel seen in our marriage, which
confirms my deep-seated fear that I am indeed worthless and invisible. So even in the most inconsequential of
arguments with my spouse, I feel anxious and start to spin every time they are
short with me. “
So how the writer sees
themselves and not how God sees them begins to alter their reactions in her
marriage. We need to fill our minds with
the things of God, or we destroy our relationships. It’s not easy because I have some horrible
thoughts and lies, I believe myself. I
have believed I’m a failure, I believe the part about being worthless and
invisible. I often question how a human
could love me and then read God loves me and that’s even harder to comprehend. I want to end this blog with some verses the
You Version had to go with it and a few I’ve added.
Ephesians 1:4-5
“Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to
be holy without fault in his eyes. God
decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself
through Jesus Christ. This is what he
wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
John 1:12
“But to all who believed in Him and accepted Him, He gave the right
to become children of God.”
Romans 8:14-17
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So, you have not received a spirit that makes
you fearful slaves. Instead, you received
God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, `Abba Father.’ For his
Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of
God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory,
we must also share his suffering.
Romans 15:13
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with
joy and peace because you trust in Him.
Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy
Spirit.”
1 Peter 5:7
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”
Treasure Island by Steven Curtis Chapman
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