D. L. Moody
Over the past few weeks, I have been listening to a sermon series by Dr. David Jeremiah about the importance of a disciplined mind. Some, well all, of the sermons are packed FULL of such insight that I have listened to them multiple times. I still feel as though I need to go back and take notes on them so that the truths will stay with me. One of the little nuggets that he shared was that we are who we think we are. This is something that I have struggled with as far back as I can remember. And having teenagers in the house, I see that this is something in which all ages and genders struggle with. It all begins in the mind. Our minds can be a battlefield for the enemy to bring us down....to second guess ourselves.
It breaks my heart to see my children compare themselves to their peers or some famous person on TV. However, when I pause and reflect on my own thoughts....I do the very same thing. Thoughts of, "I am not a good mother" or "I'm not pretty enough" or "I am so stupid" or "I am not ______" . That one blank can get filled in so quickly through the course of the day. Once those negative thoughts begin to circulate through the mind, it can easily distort the reality of our true self worth.
This is exactly where I was about five years ago. I am a perfectionist by nature. I want to have the appearance that everything is perfect. Notice I said "appearance". Perfect figure. Perfect hair. Perfect house. Perfect family....and the list goes on. I was constantly placing myself under great pressure to attain this so called "perfectness". What it did was to make my life miserable on the inside. On the outside, I could put on my happy mask and smile. But on the inside, I felt miserable. I could never measure up to my own expectations or how I thought other people viewed me. My insecurities held me captive. I was becoming a bitter person on the inside. I knew something was not right when I was sitting through a baptismal service and caught myself looking down at my watch wondering how much longer until it was over. What was wrong with me? The person being baptized was showing family and friends that their hearts had been changed and that they wanted to serve the Lord. This should MOVE me emotionally. I should be thrilled to see someone want to live for Christ!
I continually felt a tugging at my heart to just pray. If there wasn't time in my day for anything else....I just needed to pray. So I did. I realized right then and there that I really didn't know HOW to pray. Meaning....I never just prayed my heart. I was used to praying my little prayer check list and just going through the motions. But one cold January morning, I knelt down by the bench at the end of my bed and prayed. I talked with God. I cried. I listened. I sang. I read aloud Scripture from the Bible. That was the day I began to experience true joy. It was hard work. It was very emotional because I had to retrain my mind. I had to allow the Holy Spirit with the memorization of God's word to change me. When negative thoughts would try to creep up, I had to replace that with something positive. That positive being verses that I had memorized to fight back. I like to call them my fighter verses. One of the verses I used was from Proverbs 31:25, "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." I am clothed with the arms of Jesus wrapped tightly around me...and that gives me strength. I have dignity because I am made in the image of God the Creator! And I love this part..."she can laugh at the days to come." I like to say that, "I WILL laugh at the days to come!"
When God's word and the Holy Spirit come together in a believer's mind, there is a powerful combination that occurs in our hearts and strengthens us. This is what helped me to experience freedom in Christ.....freedom in my heart and in my mind. To God be the Glory!
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Colossians 3:16
It breaks my heart to see my children compare themselves to their peers or some famous person on TV. However, when I pause and reflect on my own thoughts....I do the very same thing. Thoughts of, "I am not a good mother" or "I'm not pretty enough" or "I am so stupid" or "I am not ______" . That one blank can get filled in so quickly through the course of the day. Once those negative thoughts begin to circulate through the mind, it can easily distort the reality of our true self worth.
This is exactly where I was about five years ago. I am a perfectionist by nature. I want to have the appearance that everything is perfect. Notice I said "appearance". Perfect figure. Perfect hair. Perfect house. Perfect family....and the list goes on. I was constantly placing myself under great pressure to attain this so called "perfectness". What it did was to make my life miserable on the inside. On the outside, I could put on my happy mask and smile. But on the inside, I felt miserable. I could never measure up to my own expectations or how I thought other people viewed me. My insecurities held me captive. I was becoming a bitter person on the inside. I knew something was not right when I was sitting through a baptismal service and caught myself looking down at my watch wondering how much longer until it was over. What was wrong with me? The person being baptized was showing family and friends that their hearts had been changed and that they wanted to serve the Lord. This should MOVE me emotionally. I should be thrilled to see someone want to live for Christ!
I continually felt a tugging at my heart to just pray. If there wasn't time in my day for anything else....I just needed to pray. So I did. I realized right then and there that I really didn't know HOW to pray. Meaning....I never just prayed my heart. I was used to praying my little prayer check list and just going through the motions. But one cold January morning, I knelt down by the bench at the end of my bed and prayed. I talked with God. I cried. I listened. I sang. I read aloud Scripture from the Bible. That was the day I began to experience true joy. It was hard work. It was very emotional because I had to retrain my mind. I had to allow the Holy Spirit with the memorization of God's word to change me. When negative thoughts would try to creep up, I had to replace that with something positive. That positive being verses that I had memorized to fight back. I like to call them my fighter verses. One of the verses I used was from Proverbs 31:25, "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." I am clothed with the arms of Jesus wrapped tightly around me...and that gives me strength. I have dignity because I am made in the image of God the Creator! And I love this part..."she can laugh at the days to come." I like to say that, "I WILL laugh at the days to come!"
When God's word and the Holy Spirit come together in a believer's mind, there is a powerful combination that occurs in our hearts and strengthens us. This is what helped me to experience freedom in Christ.....freedom in my heart and in my mind. To God be the Glory!
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." Colossians 3:16
No comments:
Post a Comment